MUNICIPAL 

STUDIES 


CHICAGO 

NORMAL 

SCHOOL 

DEPARTMENT 
OF    SOCIOLOGY 


No.  1 


A    SKETCH    OF   THE    SANITARY    HISTORY 

OF  THE  CITY;   COMPILED  LARGELY 

FROM    OFFICIAL    REPORTS 


M 


COPTRIGHTED,  19O1, 

BT    BOARD    OF  EDUCATION 

OF    THE    CITY    OF   CHICAGO 


L 


PREFATORY   NOTE. 

This  sketch  has  been  prepared  in  the  belief  that  teachers  and 
pupils  in  the  upper  grades  of  our  schools  will  more  and  more  study 
those  municipal  activities  that  are  felt  to  touch  their  own  lives 
most  vitally. 

The  historical  phases  of  any  such  study  (and  they  are  essential) 
are  hard  to  follow,  because  the  necessary  facts  are  locked  up  in 
official  reports  covering,  the  whole  period  of  our  city  life.  It  is, 
therefore,  hoped  that  this  sketch  of  our  sanitary  struggle  may  be 
found  useful,  both  for  what  it  contains  and  for  its  references  to 
those  particular  official  records  that  contain  the  richest  material  for 
further  study.  If  this  hope  is  realized,  it  is  the  intention  to  publish 
other  outlines  of  the  history  of  public  works,  police,  fire,  parks, 
schools,  etc. 


Annals  of  Health  and  Sanitation 
in  Chicago 


G.  KOEHLER,  M.  D., 

Assistant  Commissioner  of  Health. 


DR.  OSCAR  DEWOLF 


DR   BROCK.  L.  MCVICKAR 


FlG.  CCXII. — Pioneer  Workers  in  Health  Conservation  and 
Sanitation  in  Chicago. 


ANNALS  OF  HEALTH  AND  SANITATION 
IN  CHICAGO. 

1673:  The  first  prophecy  in  regard  to  the  future  development 
of  Chicago  was  made  by  Joliet  who,  when  he  crossed  the  Chicago 
portage  with  Marquette  in  this  year,  reported  that  the  place  at  which 
they  entered  the  lake  was  a  harbor  and  has  a  very  important  advantage 
in  that  it  would  only  be  necessary  to  make  a  canal  by  cutting  through 
half  a  league  of  prairie  to  pass  from  the  lake  of  the  Illinois  to  the 
river  St.  Louis.  "Then  a  boat  built  on  Lake  Erie  could  easily  sail  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  by  this  route." 

1674:  The  first  history  of  illness  in  Chicago  is  that  of  Father 
Marquette.  He  reached  the  river  on  December  4,  and  encamped  two 
leagues  up  the  south  branch  near  the  portage,  where  he  was  obliged 
to  remain  all  winter  on  account  of  a  severe  illness,  apparently  occupy- 
ing the  cabins  of  the  two  French  traders,  La  Toupine  (Pierre  Moreau), 
nnd  a  surgeon  who  were  away  on  a  hunting  expedition.  These  soon 
heard  of  the  newcomer  and  the  surgeon  visited  him ;  after  that  they 
brought  provisions  and  Marquette  says  that  they  "did  and  said  every- 
thing that  could  be  expected  of  them." 

The  first  habitation  and  business'  of  a  white  man,  according  to  the 
foregoing,  must  have  been  established  in  Chicago  probably  between 
1671  and  1674,  for  in  the  former  year  La  Toupine  was  reported  to 
be  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  with  St.  Lus^on. 

1682:  La  Salle,  after  visiting  the  Portage  of  Chicago  in  this 
>ear,  writes  disdainfully  of  Joliet 's  proposed  waterway  across  the 
Portage,  thus  establishing  the  record  of  the  first  discouragement  of 
public  improvements. 

1687:  Too  little  water  in  the  Chicago  river.  Two  messengers 
notify  Tonti  that  three  canoes  laden  with  merchandise  had  arrived  at 
Chicago,  that  there  being  too  little  water  in  the  river  they  could  come 
no  lower.  The  next  spring  Tonti  was  detained  in  Chicago,  the  time 
of  rest  being  advantageous  for  the  healing  of  his  foot. 

1700:  Record  of  first  death,  that  of  Father  Julian  Bineteu,  who 
preached  to  the  mission  at  Chicago.  He  was  associated  with  Father 
Pinet,  who  in  1696  established  the  Mission  of  the  Guardian  Angel  in 
this  vicinity. 

I757:  Chicago  lost  track  of  ;or  nearly  a  century,  but  said  to 
contain  rich  mines.  Du  Pratz  in  this  year  predicts  that  unless  "some 

1463 


1464  ANNALS     OF    HEALTH    AND     SANITATION 

curious  person  shall  go  to  the  north  of  the  Illinois  river  in  search  of 
mines,  where  they  are  said  to  be  in  great  numbers  and  very  rich,  that 
region  will  not  soon  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  French." 

1779:  Jean  Baptiste  Point  de  Saible,  a  native  of  San  Domingo, 
located  on  the  site  of  Chicago  in  this  year.  Thus,  it  has  been  said 
that  the  "first  white  man  in  Chicago  was  a  negro." 

1780:  Battle  of  South  Chicago  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  fought 
December  5  of  this  year  "at  the  Calumet,  a  few  miles  southeast  of 
Chicago."  Captain  Hamelin  and  four  men  killed. 

1795 :  By  the  treaty  of  Greenville  the  Pottowatomies  ceded  a 
tract  of  land  six  miles  square  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  river.  With 
them  Chicago  had  ever  been  a  favorite  resort. 

1796:  Plans  for  the  liquor  traffic  laid  by  William  Burnett,  a 
trader  from  St.  Joseph,  who  wrote  to  a  supply  house  in  Montreal  this 
year  as  follows :  "It  is  expected  that  there  will  be  a  garrison  at 
Chicago  this  summer.  *  *  *  and  as  I  have  a  house  there  already, 
*  *  *  I  will  have  occasion  for  a  good  deal  of  liquors." 

First  sale  of  a  house,  that  of  De  Saible  to  Le  Mai.  This  stood  at 
what  is  now  the  corner  of  Pine  and  Kinzie  Streets. 

1804 — Fort  Dearborn  Established. 

Surgeon  Forry,  medical  statistician  of  the  army,  makes  the  first 
sanitary  report  on  the  locality,  viz. :  "The  bank  of  the  lake  is  several 
leet  higher  than  the  ground  in  the  rear ;  the  latter  is  sometimes  covered 
with  water.  Indeed  the  whole  country  is  so  low  that  in  the  early 
settlement  boats  frequently  passed  during  the  spring  floods  over  the 
4*airie-te-the  Des-PJaines.  This  position  is  one  of  our  most  salubrious 
stations." 

1804:  The  first  permanent  white  settler,  John  Kinzie,  arrives. 
Ellen  Marion  Kinzie,  daughter  of  John  Kinzie,  born  in  December,  was 
the  first  child  born  of  white  parents  on  the  soil  of  Chicago. 

1812:  Fort  Dearborn  Massacre,  52  killed,  including  Dr,  Isaac 
V.  Van  Vorhees,  surgeon  at  the  Fort.  The  only  white  man  remaining 
on  the  site  was  the  French  trader,  M.  du  Pin,  who,  it  is  said,  was  in 
the  habit  of  supplying  medicines  as  well  as  medical  advice  to  those 
in  need  of  either.  To  him  Waupekee,  from  the  Indian  village  on  the 
Des  Plaines,  took  the  infant  captive  Mary  Lee,  a  survivor  of  the  mas- 
sacre, for  medical  treatment.  This  is  the  first  record  of  any  person 
being  taken  to  Chicago  for  medical  attention. 


ANNALS     OF     HEALTH    AND     SANITATION  MB:, 

1816:  The  Kinzie  family  returned  to  their  home  in  Chicago,  and 
found  fhat  the  bones  of  soldiers  who  had  fallen  in  the  massacre  were 
still  unburied. 

1817:  Judge  Storrow,  who  came  from  Detroit  this  year,  via 
Mackinac  and  overland  from  Green  Bay,  on  arrival  at  Chicago  writes, 
"/  perceived  I  was  in  a  better  country."  It  had  become  so  by  gradual 
melioration. 

1818:  '  Governor  Reynolds,  in  his  sketches  of  the  country  on  the 
northern  route  says,  "only  two  families  reside  in  Chicago." 

1820:  Dr.  Alexander  Wolcolt  came  to  Chicago  as  an  Indian 
?:gent  of  the  government  and  also  served  as  surgeon  at  the  Fort. 

Summer  unusually  hot  and  dry.  "The  fevers  of  that  season  were 
unusually  rapid,  malignant  and  unmanageable." 

1821 :  Schoolcraft,  as  secretary  of  the  Commission  to  make  a 
treaty  with  the  Indians  at  Chicago  on  August  14,  after  crossing  the 
south  fork  of  the  Chicago  River  and  emerging  from  the  forest  that 
skirts  it,  found  the  large  number  of  Indians  who  preceded  him 
thronging  the  level  plain  that  stretches  along  the  lake  shore,  while  the 
refreshing  and  noble  spectacle  of  the  lake  itself,  with  a  "vast  and 
sullen  swell"  appeared  beyond. 

1822 :  First  vital  statistics.  One  death  among  the  87  men  aft! 
the  garrison.  The  next  year  three  died  out  of  95  stationed  there. 

1823 :  Major  Long,  in  passing  through  Chicago,  makes  the  first 
report  on  housing  conditions,  viz:  "The  village  presents  no  cheering 
prospects  *  *  *  it  contains  but  few  huts.  Their  log  or  bark  houses 
are  low,  filthy  and  disgusting,  displaying  not  the  least  trace  of  comfort." 

First  marriage  that  of  Dr.  Alexander  Wolcott  to  Ellen  M.  Kinzie. 

Dr.  S.  G.  J.  DeCamp  appointed  assistant  surgeon  at  Fort  Dear- 
born. 

Preliminary  surveys  made  by  Colonels  J.  Post  and  R.  Paul  for 
locating  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal. 

It  was  largely  on  the  advice  of  Dr.  Wolcott  that  Fort  Dearborn 
was  not  abolished  when  the  garrison  was  withdrawn  this  year. 

1827:  Bill  passed  by  the  legislature  for  the  construction  of  the 
Illinois  and  Michigan  canal. 

1828:  First  frame  house  in  the  city  built  for  Billy  Caldwell, 
the  half-breed,  at  the  corner  of  what  is  now  Chicago  Avenue  and  North 
State  Street. 


14BC  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

1829:  First  record  of  morbidity  statistics  for  Chicago  published 
in  reports  of  the  United  States  Army.  Man  strength  of  the  garrison, 
91.  Diseases,  viz.:  Intermittent  Fever,  17;  Diseases  of  Respiratory 
Organs,  II ;  of  Digestive  Organs,  30,  etc. 

1830:  Board  of  Canal  Commissioners  appointed,  who  employed 
James  Thompson  to  survey  and  lay  off  the  town  of  Chicago. 

Dr.  Elijah  D.  Harmon  arrived  in  Chicago  and  was  installed  as 
surgeon  of  the  garrison,  succeeding  Dr.  J.  B.  Finley,  who  was  then 
absent  from  the  post.  Fifteen  deaths  of  the  troops  at  the  Fort  from 
remittent  fever.  Man  strength,  90. 

First  official  report  on  health  of  cityr  made  by  the  Canal  Commis- 
sioners who,  in  their  report  to  the  legislature  this  year  say:  "This 
town  is  situated  on  the  Chicago  River  near  its  mouth  and  possesses 
many  advantages.  *  *  *  It  is  the  only  eligible  site  for  a  town  on 
the  lake.  *  *  *  and  from  the  long  experiences  of  its  inhabitants 
is  decidedly  healthy." 

1831 :  Cook  County  organised.  Population  of  Chicago  about  100. 
Five  marriage  licenses  issued  this  year. 

In  September,  4,000  Indians  gathered  in  Chicago  to  receive  their 
annuities  and  the  scenes  of  debauchery  and  violence  which  occurred 
are  described  as  being  most  disgusting  and  terrible. 

1832:  On  July  10,  during  the  Blackhawk  War,  Gen.  Winfield 
Scott  arrived  with  his  detachment  in  Chicago  on  the  Steamer  Sheldon 
Thompson  (the  first  steamer  to  reach  the -city).  The  troops  came 
from  the  East  where  cholera  had  been  prevalent  since  May,  and  very 
soon  after  landing  in  Chicago  the  disease  spread  rapidly  among  his 
command,  one  man  out  of  every  three  being  attacked,  and  many  dying. 
Dr.  Harmon  treated  the  troops  and  also  devoted  his  attention  to  the 
citizens  in  the  little  town.  The  hospital  admission  rate  was  200  per 
1,000.  Forty-eight  died.  Dr.  DeCamp,  the  assistant  surgeon,  inclines 
to  the  opinion  that  the  disease  was  contagious  because  several  citizens 
of  the  village  also  died  of  cholera.  Great  influx  of  people  on  account 
of  the  war  scare.  Nearly  700  in  the  city,  of  whom  two-thirds  were 
children. 

In  this  same  year  Dr.  Harmon  also  amputated  the  frozen  foot 
of  the  half-breed  Canadian  carrying  the  mail  on  horseback  between 
Chicago  and  Green  Bay,  Wisconsin.  This  is  the  first  record  of  a  major 
surgical  operation  in  Chicago. 

First  public  building;  an  estray  pen  erected  on  the  site  of  the  pres- 
ent City  Hall  and  County  buildings.  Cost  $20;  settled  for  $12  because 
work  was  not  according  to  contract. 

First  drug  store  started  by  Mr.  Philo  Carpenter. 


ANNALS     OF    HEALTH    AND     SANITATION  14«7 

First  cattle  slaughtered  by  John  Mark  Noble,  in  Dole's  warehouse, 
at  the  corner  of  Michigan  Avenue  and  Madison  Street. 

Incorporated  as  a  Town. 

1833:  The  general  law  (Act  of  1831)  for  the  incorporation  of 
towns,  unde^-  which  the  town  of  Chicago  was  organized,  gave  the 
president  and  trustees  the  following  powers  relative  to  health  mat- 
ters: 

1.  To  prevent  and  remove  nuisances. 

2.  To  regulate  and  establish  markets. 

3.  To  sink  and  keep  in  repair  public  wells. 

First  health  ordinance  passed  which  declared  it  unlawful  to  "throw 
or  put  into  the  Chicago  River,  within  the  limits  of  the  town,  any  carcass 
of  any  dead  animal  or  animals,  under  a  penalty  of  three  dollars  for 
each  offense." 

The  first  newspaper,  the  Chicago  Democrat,  started.  Dr.  Daniel 
Brainard  later  became  associated  with  the  paper  as  an  editor. 

Latrobe,  visiting  the  village  in  the  autumn  of  this  year,  "found 
a  doctor  or  two,  but  not  a  highly  encouraging  clientele."  The  physi- 
cians referred  to  were  Dr.  E.  D.  Harmon  and  probably  Dr.  Philip 
Maxwell.  The  latter  had  been  surgeon  to  the  Fort  since  March  and 
remained  until  the  post  was  abandoned  in  1836,  when  he  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  medicine  in  the  city. 

Dr.  Harmon,  the  first  practitioner  of  medicine  in  Chicago,  was 
now  residing  in  the  Kinzie  house.  His  medical  library  is  said  to  have 
comprised  over  a  hundred  volumes.  His  favorite  themes  were  horti- 
culture and  the  certain  future  importance  of  Chicago.  He  put  his 
theories  into  practice  and  acquired  130  acres  of  land  on  the  lake  shore, 
south  of  i6th  Street. 

Overcrowding.  Harriet  Martineu,  the  renowned  traveler,  visiting 
the  village,  says  she  never  saw  a  busier  place  than  Chicago.  All  inns 
were  overcrowded  with  speculators.  Her  party  had  to  be  divided 
c'mong  three  families  for  lodgings. 

The  first  brick  building,  built  on  Monroe  Street,  between  State 
and  Clark  Streets. 

1834 :  Fear  of  cholera  impelled  the  trustees  to  action.  The  super- 
visor was  ordered  to  abate  all  nuisances.  A  temporary  Board  of 
Health  was  established. 

A  Vigilance  Committee  was  appointed,  consisting  of  Doctors  W. 
B.  Egan  and  J.  C.  Goodhue  and  1 1  jaymen,  to  inspect  all  houses  and 
yards  and  direct  the  owners  to  pu4  these  in  good  condition  on  24 
hours'  notice. 


1468  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

As  a  reminder  of  the  cholera  epidemic  it  is  reported  that  a  boat- 
man paddling  up  the  river  could  perceive  the  ends  of  the  bark  coffins 
projecting  through  the  sand  hills  and  even  occasionally  note  the  exposed 
contents. 

First  Sunday  closing  law  passed  September  i,  provided  a  fine  of 
$5.00  and  costs  for  keeping  a  tippling  house  or  grocery  open  on  the 
Sabbath,  one-half  of  the  fine  to  go  to  the  complainant!  It  was  the 
common  practice  of  grocery  stores  to  sell  liquors.  This  continued  until 
1860-70. 

Another  report  on  housing  conditions  by  C.  F.  Hoffman,  who 
visited  the  village  in  January  while  spending  his  "Winter  in  the  West." 
He  says :  "Four-fifths  of  the  population  have  come  in  since  last  spring 
and  the  erecting  of  new  buildings  is  in  proportion.  The  houses  were 
built  with  such  rapidity  as  to  be  mere  shells  and  are  hard  to  keep 
warm." 

First  public  water  supply  from  a  well  dug  this  year  at  Cass  and 
Michigan  Streets.  Cost  $95.50. 

1835 :  A  Board  of  Health,  consisting  of  seven  members,  estab- 
lished in  pursuance  to  an  act  of  the  legislature  passed  February  n, 
1835,  authorizing  the  trustees  to  "make  regulations  to  secure  the  gen- 
eral health  of  the  inhabitants."  Members  of  the  Board  made  inspec- 
tions of  their  respective  parts  of  the  town  for  nuisances.  It  is  reported 
that  "the  year  was  a  most  sickly  year  for  common  intermittents." 

By  an  act  of  the  legislature,  passed  this  year,  changing  the  cor- 
porate powers  of  the  town  of  Chicago,  the  following  additional  powers 
relative  to  health  conservation  were  conferred  on  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees: 

1.  To  make  regulations  to  secure  the  general  health  of  the  in- 
habitants. 

2.  To  build  market  houses. 

3.  To  establish  and  enforce  quarantine  laws. 

Two  cemeteries  established  and  burial  in  other  parts  of  the  town 
prohibited.  The  North  Side  cemetery  was  located  on  Chicago  Avenue, 
close  to  the  Lake  Shore,  and  the  one  on  the  South  Side  near  23rd 
Street  and  Wabash  Avenue. 

First  courthouse  and  jail  built. 

Anson  Sweet  constructed  a  plank  sewer  on  Dearborn  Street  from 
Lake  Street  to  the  river,  and  was  censured  for  the  expense  incurred. 

1836:  Work  on  Illinois  and  M.chigan  Canal  started  (July  4)  at 
Bridgeport,  Dr.  W.  B.  Egan  delivering  the  address. 

Fort  Dearborn  permanently  evacuated.  According  to  published 
returns  for  10  years  the  annual  rate  of  intermittent  fevers  in  the 
garrison  was  23  per  cent. ;  of  remittents,  4  per  cent. 


ANNALS     OF    HEALTH    AND     SANITATION  1469 

A  inedical  society  was  organized  this  year,  which  apparently  met 
but  once. 

First  homeopathic  physician,  Dr.  David  S.  Smith,  located  here 
this  year.  Total  number  of  physicians,  12. 

The  Chicago  Hydraulic  Company,  to  supply  the  city  with  water, 
was  incorporated  by  an  act  of  the  legislature,  but  was  not  organized 
until  several  years  later. 

First  drainage  ditch.     $396  paid  to  James  Daly  for  making  132  . 
yards  of  road  and  ditch  on  Clark  Street. 

J.  M.  Peck  of  Illinois,  in  his  "Guide  for  Immigrants,"  published 
this  year,  devotes  an  article  to  the  subject  of  "Advice  to  Recent  Set- 
tlers for  the  Preservation  of  Health.''  He  points  out  "that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  prevent  the  influence  of  an  atmosphere  pregnant  with  the 
causes  of  disease."  Uniform  exposrrt  of  the  system  to  the  weather, 
he  says,  is  favorable  to  health,  and  states  that  "it  is  common  for  a 
frontier  man  whose  health  is  on  the  decline,  and  especially  when 
indications  of  pulmonary  affection  appear,  to  engage  in  a  hunting 
expedition  to  renovate  his  health." 

City  of  Chicago  Incorporated  March  4,  1837. 

1837  :  In  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  charter  the  first  Board 
of  Health  was  constituted  as  follow?  : 

Mayor  William  B.  Ogden,  ex-officio,  President. 

Dr.  J.  W.  Eldridge,  Commissioner.  "1  _ 

A.  N.  Fullerton.  Iglectedby 

D.  Cox.  J  Clty  Counci1 

I.  N.  Arnold,  City  Clerk,  ex-officio  Clerk  e*  Board  of  Health. 

Dr.  D.  Brainard  was  appointed  health  officer. 

Thz  first  city  charter,  which  was  a  special  act  of  the  legislature 

incorporating  the  city  of  Chicago,  vested  the  following  powers  in  the 

Board  of  Health : 

1.  Ordering  boats  or  vessels  moved  to  a  distance  not  exceeding  three 
miles  beyond  the  city  limits  within  six  hours  after  delivering  their  cargo, 
if  the  Board  believes  or  suspects  that  such  boat  or  vessel  may  bring  or 
spread  pestilential  or  infectious  diseases. 

2.  To  order  all  persons  in  said  city,  not  residents  thereof,  who  shall 
be  infected  with  infectious  or  pestilential  disease,  and  all  things  which  they 
believe  to  be  infected  or  tainted  with  pestilential  matter,  removed  to  a  place 
not  exceeding  three  miles  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  city. 

3.  Persons  practicing  physic  were  required  to  report  to  the  clerk  of 
the  Board  of  Health  the  patient  suffering  from  any  malignant  or  yellow 
fever,  or  other  infectious  or  pestilential  disease. 

TEe  common  council  was  given  power  to  appoint,  at  their  pleas- 
ure, a  health  officer  annually,  and  to  remove  him  at  pleasure. 

The  duty  of  the  health  officer  was  defined  by  the  charter,  viz. : 
1.     To  visit  every  sick  person  reported  to  the  Board  of  Health  and  to 
report  with  convenient  speed  his  opinion  of  the  sickness. 


1470  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

2.  To  inspect,  at  the  request  of  the  president  of  the  Board  of  Health, 
all  boats  landing  in  the  city  suspected  of  having  on  board  pestilential  or 
infectious  disease,  and  all  stores  or  buildings  suspected  to  contain  unsound 
provisions,  damaged  hides  or  other  articles,  and  report  the  state  of  the 
same  to  the  clerk  of  the  Board  of  Health. 

The  charter  gave  the  common  council  the  following  authority  in 
reference  to  sanitary  affairs : 

1.  To  compel  the  owner  or  occupant  of  any  grocery,   cellar,  tallow 
chandler's  shop,  soap  factory,  tannery,  stable,  barn,  privy  *  *  *  *  or  other 
unwholesome,  nauseous  house  or  place,  to  cleanse,  remove  or  abate  the  same 
*  *  *  *  as  often   as  may  be  necessary  for  the  health,  comfort  and  con- 
venience of  inhabitants  of  said  city.  ^ 

2.  To   direct  the  location   and   management  of   slaughter-houses;   to 
establish  and  regulate  markets;  to  regulate  the  sale  of  fresh  meats  and 
vegetables,  and  to  license  and  regulate  butchers. 

3.  To  regulate  the  time  and  place  of  bathing  and  swimming  in  canals, 
rivers,  harbors  and  other  waters. 

4.  To  prevent  the  bringing  or  depositing  or  having  within  the  city 
limits,  any  dead  carcass  or  other  unwholesome  substance,  and  to  require 
the  removal  or  destruction  of  the  same  by  the  owners  or  by  some  officer 
of  the  city. 

5.  To  abate  and  remove  nuisances. 

6.  To  regulate  the  burial  of  the  dead. 

7.  To  direct  the  returning  and  keeping  of  the  bills  of  mortality  and 
to  impose  penalties  on  physicians,  sextons  or  others  for  any  default. 

8.  To  establish,  make  and  regulate  public  pumps,  wells,  cisterns  and 
reservoirs.     (The  charter  gave  no  power  to  the  city  to  establish  a  general 
system  of  water- works.) 

9.  Power  to  appoint  a  Board  of  Health,  health  officer,  sextons  and 
scavengers. 

On  May  12,  the  city  council  passed  the  first  code  of  ordinances. 

These  were  printed  at  the  office  of  the  Chicago  Democrat  in  1837 
(first -book  published  in  Chicago — 21  pages).  It  contained  the  fol- 
lowing sections  in  reference  to  health : 

1.  Poison  not  to  be  sold  unless  marked. 

2.  Drains  not  to  be  obstructed. 

3.  No  dung,  dead  animal  or  putrid  meats  or  fish,  or  decayed  vegetables 
to  be  deposited  in  any  street,  avenue,  lane  or  public  square. 

4.  Owner  or  occupant  of  any  lot  or  tenement  not  to  allow  nuisance 
to  remain  on  such  lot  or  between  it  and  the  center  of  the  street  adjoining 
the  same. 

5.  Buildings  in-  which  meats,  etc.,  are  sold  to  be  kept  clean. 

6.  One  or  more  of  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Health  shall  inspect 
all  places  in  the  city  where  fresh  meat  or  fish  are  sold  at  least  once  a  week 
between  April  1  and  November  1,  and  once  a  month  during  the  remainder 
of  the  year. 

Division  X  of  the  aforesaid  Code  defined  the  power  of  the  Board 
of  Health,  viz.: 

1.  To  make  diligent  inquiry  in  regard  to  nuisances  and  order  the  re- 
moval of  the  same. 


ANNAI.S     OF     HEALTH     AXD     SANITATION  1471 

2.  To  order  non-residents  affected  with  infectious  or  pestilential  dis- 
ease, and  all  things  tainted  with  such  pestilential  matter,  to  be  removed  to 
a  place  not  exceeding  three  miles  outside  of  the  city  limits. 

3.  Power  of  entry  during  the  daytime  to  any  building,  cellar,  lot  or 
ground,  to  make  inspections  for  sanitary  conditions,  and  to  order  the  re- 
moval of  all  nuisances  found. 

4.  To  require  all  stagnant  water  to  be  drained  from  any  lot  or  out  of 
any  street  and,  if  necessary,  to  carry  out  such  orders  at  the  expense  of  the 
owners. 

5.  To  prohibit  the  use  of  vats,  pits  or  pools  of  stationary  water,  either 
for  tanneries,  dyers  or  other  persons,  as  they  may  deem  dangerous  to  public 
health. 

6.  Every  butcher  or  other  person  shall  immediately  after  killing  any 
beeves,  calves,  sheep,  etc.,  destroy  the  offal,  garbage  and  other  offensive 
and  useless  parts. 

7.  No  person  shall  cast,  or  have  exposed,  the  dead  carcass  of  any 
animal  on  any  street,  alley,  lane,  yard  or  lot. 

8.  Making  it  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Health  to  destroy  any  putrid 
or  unsound  meat,  fish,  hides  or  skins. 

First  census  of  city,  after  its  incorporation.  Population,  4,170. 
Colored,  77.  Under  five  years,  513.  Dwellings,  398.  Drug  stores,  3. 

1838:  Laborers  employed  m  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal 
afflicted  with  a  disease  resembling  cholera,  which  struck  them  down 
\ery  suddenly. 

^Neajly  all  who  resided  along  the  line  of  excavation  of  the  canal 
suffered  with  autumnal  fever  and  almost  all  the  laborers  suffered  in 
the  same  way. 

Lake  level  the  highest  on  record,  being  584.69  feet  above  the 
sea  level. 

1839:  Chicago  Hydraulic  Company  organized.  Prior  to  this 
time  the  water  supply  was  from  wells  and  water  carts  distributing 
lake  water. 

First  daily  paper,  the  "Chicago  American,"  commenced  publi- 
cation. 

Dearborn  Park  established.  This  was  the  first  pdrk  and  was 
loca'ted  on  the  present  site  of  the  Public  Library  Building. 

The  municipal  court  provided  for  in  the  charter  of  1839  abolished. 
It  is  stated  that  the  court  had  been  too  prompt  and  too  just  to  satisfy 
public  opinion  at  that  time. 

Ordinance  passed  providing  for  the  erection  and  regulation  of  a 
market  house  to  be  located  about  t»ie  middle  of  State  Street,  between 
Lake  and  Randolph  Streets,  at  a  cost  not  to  exceed  $850.00. 

1840:  The  Hydraulic  Company  began  to  distribute  water 
through  bored  logs  laid  underground.  The  supply  was  derived  from 
the  lake  by  means  of  an  iron  pipe  extending  150  feet  out  in  the  lake. 


1472  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

With  a  pump  worked  by  a  25  horse-power  steam  engine  the  water  was 
pumped  into  a  reservoir  located  at  the  corner  of  Lake  Street  and 
Michigan  Avenue,  the  tank  being  25  feet  square  and  elevated  80  feet 
above  the  ground.  The  laying  of  a  mile  or  two  of  bored  logs  began, 
these  being  the  first  water  mains. 

Population  of  city  according  to  U.  S.  census,  4,479. 

1841  :  First  attempt  made  to  gather  vital  statistics.  The  council, 
in  response  to  a  petition  by  physicians  of  the  city,  passed  an  ordinance 
requiring  attending  physicians  to  give  a  Certificate  of  Death,  which 
certificate  was  to.be  given  to  the  citv  sexton  before  burials  were  made. 

Great  temperance  revival;  140  signed  the  pledge. 

1842 :  An  ordinance  relating  to  the  burial  of  the  dead  was  passed. 
The  city  purchased  a  piece  of  land  at  $25.00  an  acre  for  cemetery 
purposes. 

First  cattle  slaughtered  for  eastern  market  by  Archibald  Clybourn 
and  G.  S.  Hubbard. 

First  schedule  of  water  rates  published. 

1843 :  The  first  medical  school,  Rush  Medical  College,  gives  first 
course  of  lectures. 

A  city  hospital  was  built  at  a  cost  of  $200.00.- 

Ordinance  passed  prohibiting  owners  to  allow  hogs  to  run  at 
large  on  the  streets. 

Ordinance  passed  providing  for  the  health  and  order  of  the 
city,  which  prohibited  the  depositing  of  any  dung,  dead  animal,  con- 
'°nts  of  any  privy  vault  into,  or  on  the  banks  of,  the  Chicago  River 
or  Lake  Michigan  and  the  depositing  of  such  substances  or  any  rub- 
bish on  any  streets,  alleys  or  gutters. 

Death  rate  I  to  64.78  of  the  population,  according  to  the  records 
of  the  city  sexton. 

1844  :    A  severe  outbreak  of  scarlet  fever  occurred.    Total  deaths 
in  city  this  year  were  approximately  306,  as  compared  with  an  esti- 
mated number  of  129  in  the  preceding  year. 

The  street  commissioner  was  directed  to  notify  the  owner  or 
occupants  of  stables  and  alleys  to  remove  the  manure  therefrom  under 
penalty  of  prosecution. 

First  meat  packed  for  foreign  market. 

First  medical  journal  published,  the  Illinois  Medical  and  Surgical 
Journal,  Dr.  J.  V.  Z.  Blaney,  Editor.  This,  in  1848,  became  the  North- 
western Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  and  in  1858,  the  Chicago 
Medical  Journal. 

1845  :     This  year  scarlet  fever  still  prevailed  and  an  additional 
$300.00  was  spent  for  a  hospital  building. 


ANNALS     OF    HEALTH    AND     SANITATION  1478 

First  public  school  building  erected,  on  Madison  Street,  opposite 
McVicker's  Theater. 

Act  of  legislature  passed  incorporating  the  Lake  Michigan  Hy- 
draulic Company,  and  empowering  the  same  to  supply  water  on  the 
North  Side  without  any  reference  to  the  consent  or  regulation  of  the 
city  council.  This  act  was  repealed  later. 

1846:  Scavenger  service  started.  The  city  council  ordered  that 
owners  or  occupants  of  lots,  in  what  was  then  the  business  section  of 
the  city,  be  required  to  collect  into  heaps  in  front  of  their  houses 
every  Saturday  morning,  vegetables  and  other  matter  liable  to  decom- 
position, and  that  the  street  commissioner  provide  scavengers  to  re- 
move the  same. 

Dr.  W.  B.  Herrick  appointed  surgeon  to  the  First  Regiment  of 
Illinois  Volunteers  in  the  Mexican  War.  In  a  letter  to  the  local  medical 
journal  he  wrote  from  Mexico,  "Of  all  the  diseases  to  which  volunteers 
have  been  subject,  those  of  the  lungs,  consequent  upon  measles,  have 
been  most  destructive  of  life." 

Free  dispensary  opened. 

July  of  this  year  was  very  hot. 

1847:     By  act  of  the  legislature  the  city,  was  given  power  to 

A 

make,  maintain  and  repair  all  sewers  in  the  city,  said  sewers  to  be 
the  property  of  the  city. 

First  year  during  which  records  of  deaths  kept  by  the  city  sexton 
are  extant.  Total  number  recorded  520. 

Board  of  Health  declared  soap  and  candle  factory  of  Charles 
Cleaver  a  nuisance,  resulting  in  the  removal  of  the  establishment  to 
Cleaverville  in  1851. 

Chicago  datum  established,  based  on  the  low  water  level  of  Lake 
Michigan  this  year,  which  was  579.94  feet  above  sea  level. 

First  general  hospital  started  in  city  at  North  Water  and  Dearborn 
Streets.  Known  as  Tippecanoe  Hall.  J.  W.  Freer  first  interne. 

Rush  Medical  College  Dispensary  adopted  as  a  county  institution 
by  the  county  commissioners. 

First  state  hospital  for  the  insane  established  by  a  bill  passed  this 
year.  To  be  erected  within  four  miles  of  Jacksonville. 

Dr.  E.  Mead  opened  a  private  hospital  for  the  insane  (The  Chicago 
Retreat  for  the  Insane). 

1848:  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  completed,  with  summit  level 
eight  feet  above  low  lake  level. 

Total  cost  of  canal  $6,537,254.  Pumps  at  Bridgeport  put  into 
operation  feeding  the  canal  from  the  Chicago  River. 

Dr.  H.  S.  Huber  was  appointed  city  physician  "without  salary." 


1474  ANNALS     OF     HKALTH     AND     SANITATION 

The  first  smallpox  scare.  Handbills  were  distributed,  giving  the 
names  of  physicians  willing  to  vaccinate  those  unable  to  pay  and  calling 
upon  all  persons  not  vaccinated  to  be  vaccinated  without  delay. 

A  committee  from  the  Mechanics  Institute  submitted  plans  for 
a  new  system  of  water  supply. 

First  municipal  market  established  on  State  Street  between  Ran- 
dolph and  Lake  Streets.  This  also  served  as  the  first  city  hall. 

Ten  thousand  dollars  appropriated  by  Congress  for  a  Marine 
Hospital  at  Chicago. 

1849:  In  anticipation  of  cholera,  which  was  then  raging  in  the 
south,  a  public  meeting  was  held ,  at  which  resolutions  were  passed 
demanding  the  cleansing  of  the  city.  On  March  10,  these  were  pre- 
sented to  the  city  council  by  Dr.  B.  McVickar,  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee. Between  April  2  and  23,  forty-five  assistant  health  officers 
were  appointed. 

On  April  29  cholera  was  brought  to  the  city  in  the  emigrant  boat 
John  Drew.  The  deaths  from  cholera  during  the  year  were  678,  or 
one  in  36  of  the  entire  population.  Between  July  25  and  August  28, 
ijboo  cases  and  314  deaths  occurred.  The  outbreak  lasted  until  late 
in  October.  The  families  using  hydrant  water  brought  in  from  Lake 
Michigan  suffered  less  than  those  using  well  water.  One  hundred 
barrels  of  lime  scattered  on  the  streets. 

A  very  complete  report  on  the  cholera  outbreak  in  Chicago  was 
published  by  Dr.  John  Evans  in  the  Northwestern  Medical  and  Surgi- 
cal Journal.  He  states  that  the  first  recognized  case  of  the  disease  in 
Chicago  was  the  captain  of  the  canal  boat  John  Drew,  which  came  to 
the  city  on  April  29,  with  passengers  from  New  Orleans.  The  disease 
was  then  prevalent  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  During  March  and 
April  the  disease  had  appeared  in  various  cities  on  the  Illinois  River. 

First  stock  yards  (The  Bull's  Head  Yards)  started  by  John  B. 
Sherman  at  Madison  Street  and  Ogden  Avenue. 

Dr.  Levi  D.  Boone  appointed  city  physician.  He  had  been  alder- 
man three  terms. 

A  crude  system  of  drainage,  patterned  after  the  New  Orleans 
system,  was  introduced,  but  it  proved  a  failure. 

Dr.  Daniel  Drake  said  that  "the  town  plot  is  constantly  becoming 
dryer  and  firmer,  and  that  by  a  judicious  system  of  ditching,  as  the 
population  increases,  no  doubt  much  of  the  town  plot  can  be  entirely 
reclaimed." 

Chicago  Protestant  and  St.  Joseph's  Orphan  Asylums  chartered. 

Great  flood  in  the  south  branch  of  the  Chicago  River,  coming 
from  the  Des  Plaines  via  Mud  Lake. 

Ordinance  passed  prohibiting  the  driving  or  swimming  of  any 


ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION  1475 

horses,  or  washing  of  any  vehicles  in  the  lake  adjacent  to  the  hydraulic 
works  at  Lake  Street. 

1850:  Cholera  appeared  again  in  July.  From  July  18  to  August 
21,  four  hundred  sixteen  persons  succumbed  to  the  disease.  Four  more 
deaths  in  September. 

Sewerage  system  was  primitive  and  in  many  streets  there  were 
only  gutters,  serving  as  drains.  In  the  business  section  the  sewers 
were  made  of  heavy  oak  plank,  triangular  in  shape  and  placed  in  the 
center  of  the  street.  The  streets  were  planked;  the  gutters  often 
clogged  up,  leaving  pools  of  foul  liquid  in  the  street. 

Chicago  Hydraulic  Company  supplied  one-fifth  of  the  city  with 
water.  Had  g%  miles  of  mains  in  operation. 

Chicago  Medical  Society  organized;  Dr.  Levi  D.  Boone  first  presi- 
dent. Illinois  State  Medical  Society  organized.  Dr.  William  B.  Her- 
rick  of  Chicago  the  first  president. 

First  private  hospital  opened,  the  Illinois  General  Hospital  of  the 
Lakes,  at  the  corner  of  Rush  and  North  Water  Streets.  During  its 
first  year  it  was  aided  by  a  course  of  public  lectures  given  by  Dr.  N.  S. 
Davis  on  the  sanitary  conditions  of  the  city  and  the  means  of  its  im- 
provement. "These  lectures  pointe'd  out  the  chief  sources  of  disease 
and  demonstrated  the  necessity  and  practicability  of  a  system  of  sewers 
and  full  supply  of  pure  water  in  such  a  manner  as  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  many  of  the  leading  citizens."  From  the  tickets  sold  for  the 
course  the  sum  of  $100.00  was  realized. 

Heavy  box  sewers  laid  in  the  territory  between  State  Street  and 
Fifth  Avenue,  from  Randolph  Street  and  the  River,  at  a  cost  of 
$2,871.90,  raised  by  special  assessment.  The  attempt  proved  futile 
because  when  most  needed  they  were  below  the  level  of  the  water 
in  the  river.  The  planks  in  the  gutters  became  mud-covered  and  so 
unbearable  that  the  application  of  quick  lime  had  to  be  resorted  to. 

Catholic  Orphan  Asylum  started  by  Bishop  Van  de  Velde  on 
Wabash  Avenue,  near  Van  Buren  Street. 

Illuminating  gas  was  used  the  first  time  this  year  for  street  and 
residential  lighting. 

First  exclusive  plumbing  shop  established  by  Alexander  Raffen. 

Census  shows  a  population  of  28,269. 

1851  :  The  new  city  charter  granted  by  the  legislature  this  year 
gave  the  city  council  the  following  additional  powers  in  regard  to 
health  protection : 

1.  To  make  regulations  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  contagious  dis- 
eases into  the  city. 

2.  To  make  quarantine  laws  and  enforce  the  same  in  the  city  and 
within  fifteen  miles  beyond  the  city  limits. 


1476  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

3.  To  regulate  the  registration  of  births  and  deaths  and  direct  the  re- 
turning and  keeping  of  bills  of  mortality. 

4.  To  do  all  acts  and  make  all  regulations  which  may  be  necessary 
or  expedient  for  the  preservation  of  health  and  the  suppression  of  disease. 

5.  To  prescribe  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  Board  of  Health. 

6.  To  abate  nuisances  and  assess  the  expense  of  the  same  against  the 
real  estate  chargeable  therewith,  and  also  to  make  such  expense  collectable 
by  suit  for  money  expended. 

7.  To  regulate  and  direct  the  location  of  breweries,  tanneries  and  pack- 
ing houses  *  *  *  *  and  prohibit,  within  the  city  and  the  distance  of  four 
miles  therefrom,  distilleries,  slaughter-houses,  establishments  for  the  steam- 
ing and  rendering  of  lard,  tallow  and  offal,  and  all  establishments  where 
any  nauseous  or  offensive  business  is  carried  on,  provided  that  the  Chicago 
River  with  all  its  branches  to  their  sources  and  land  100  rods  adjacent 
thereto,  shall  be  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  city  for  the  purposes  of  this 
section. 

8.  To  regulate  the  inspection  of  flour,  meal,  pork,  beef,  fish,  salt  and 
other  provisions  sold  in  barrels  or  other  packages. 

9.  To  prevent  any  use  of  the  harbor  detrimental  to  the  public  health 
or  calculated  to  render1  the  water  of  the  same  impure  or  offensive. 

10.  To  erect  and  establish  hospitals  and  dispensaries,  and  control  and 
regulate  the  same. 

11.  To  fill  up,  drain,  alter,  cleanse,  repair  and  regulate  any  grounds, 
cellars,  private  drains,  sinks  and  privies;  direct  and  regulate  their  construc- 
tion and  cause  such  expenses  to  be  assessed  against  the  property. 

The  charter  provided  for  a  Board  of  Health  consisting  of  three 
or  more  commissioners  to  be  appointed  annually  by  the  council.  The 
duties  of  the  Board  of  Health  and  health  officers,  remained  practically 
the  same  as  defined  in  the  first  charter. 

A  revised  and  more  comprehensive  code  of  ordinances  was  passed 
by  the  city  council  this  year.  This  code  defined  the  Board  of  Health 
and  its  powers  and  duties,  viz. : 

1.  To  consist  of  three  or  more  competent  and  judicious  citizens,  ap- 
pointed by  the  council,  who,  with  the  mayor,  shall  constitute  the  Board  of 
Health.     To  hold  office  for  one  year. 

2.  Board  given  power  to  appoint  a  city  physician  and  "officers  of  the 
Board  of  Health"   (health  officer  and  ex-olficio  health  officers  appointed  by 
council  according  to  the  charter)   with  the  same  powers  as  health  officers. 

3.  May  take   measures  deemed   necessary  to  prevent  the   spread  of 
smallpox  and  other  pestilential  diseases  by  issuing  an  order  requiring  all 
persons  to  be  vaccinated,  provided  that  the  Board  shall  provide  vaccination 
for  persons  unable  to  pay  for  the  same. 

4.  Power  to  abate  such  nuisances  as  are  specified  in  the  Health  ordi- 
nances of  the  city. 

5.  When  the  Board  deems  it  necessary  that  a  system  of  quarantine  shall 
be  instituted,  they  shall  report  the  necessity  thereof,  together  with  a  plan 
of  ordinance  to  the  city  council. 

The  duties  of  the  health  officer  were  defined,  as  follows : 
To  execute  the  orders  of  the  Board  of  Health;  make  sanitary  examina- 
tions of  the  city;  serve  notices  to  abate  nuisances;  visit  vessels  suspected 
of  bringing  disease,   quarantine  the   same;    to  visit  persons  suspected   of 


ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION  1477 

laboring  under  infection;  cause  them  to  be  removed  to  hospitals;  post  no- 
tices of  smallpox  on  houses  where  it  exists;  cause  hospitals  to  be  supplied 
with  nurses  and  medicines;  notify  the  Board  of  Health  when  necessary  to 
hold  special  meetings. 

The  health  officer  was  allowed  $50.00  per  month  from  April  to  Septem- 
ber, inclusive,  to  defray  the  current  expenses  of  the  Health  Department. 

The  city  physician  was  charged  with  the  following  duties : 

General  sanitary  supervision  over  city;  to  report  outbreaks  of  con- 
tagious disease  to  the  Board  of  Health;  to  keep  vaccine  on  hand,  and  see 
that  all  persons  are  vaccinated;  to  superintend  the  smallpox,  cholera,  and 
other  city  hospitals,  and  to  administer  to  all  patients  conveyed  there  who 
have  no  other  physician;  to  examine  vessels  at  the  request  of  the  Board  of 
Health,  mayor  or  council. 

For  his  services  he  was  allowed  a  general  fee  to  be  fixed  by  the  Board 
of  Health. 

Ordinance  passed  August  15,  provided  that  notice  to  abate  nui- 
sances need  not  specify  manner  of  abating;  that  expense  of  abating 
shall  be  reported  to  .the  council  so  that  they  may  be  assessed  against 
the  property,  the  same  as  sidewalks. 

Ordinance  passed  regulating  slaughter-houses,  and  the  steam- 
ing of  lard  and  tallow,  and  requiring  a  permit  from  the  council  for 
using  any  building  for  this  purpose.  Applicant  to  give  a  bond  of 
from  $100.00  to  $5,000.00  conditioned  that  he  will  obey  the  ordinances 
and  pay  all  penalties.  Health  officer  to  visit  such  plants  daily  during 
the  packing  season. 

This  ordinance  provided  that  no  offal,  blood  or  offensive  matter 
should  be  allowed  to  fall  on  the  ground  or  to  flow  in  the  Chicago 
River  or  be  kept  on  the  premises  longer  than  48  hours,  and  required 
that  the  same  should  be  buried  at  least  20  rods  from  the  river  or 
deposited  in  Lake  Michigan  beyond  the  corporate  limits  of  the  city. 

Ordinance  passed  providing  for  the  appointment  of  one  or  more 
scavengers  in  each  division  of  the  city,  to  be  provided  with  a  horse 
and  wagon,  the  property  of  the  city,  who  shall  pass  through  the  part 
of  the  city  to  be  designated  by  the  mayor  or  city  council  at  least  twice 
a  week  between  April  i  and  November  i,  to  carry  away  garbage  and 
offal;  the  street  commissioners  to  print  notices  designating  days  on 
which  collections  will  be  made. 

Ordinance  passed  in  regard  to  parks,  designating  that  the  public 
ground  east  of  Michigan  Avenue  and  south  of  Randolph  Street  be 
known  as  Lake  Park. 

Committee  on  Mortality  and  Hygiene  of  the  Chicago  Medical 
Society  made  a  report  on  mortality  rates  in  Chicago  from  1846  to  1850. 
In  1850  the  mortality  rate  was  i  to  21.45  °f  population. 

The  present  system  of  water  supply  inaugurated  by  an  act  of  the 
legislature  incorporating  the  Chicago  City  Hydraulic  Company  and 
providing  for  a  Board  of  Water  Commissioners. 


1478  ANNALS     OF    HEALTH    AND     SANITATION 

Board  of  Water  Commissioners,  provided  for  in  the  new  charter, 
went  into  office. 

Water  commissioners  made  an  enumeration  of  buildings  with  the 
following  result: 

North  division 1,55° 

West  division   1,506 

South  division 2,742 


Total  in  city 5,798 

Construction  of  water-works  at  Chicago  Avenue  was  commenced. 
In  recommending  the  site  Chief  Engineer  William  J.  McAlpine  said : 
"It  is  very  questionable  whether  the  small  quantity  of  water  which  is 
discharged  from  the  river  would  affect  the  quality  of  the  water  in 
the  lake  at  a  point  one  and  one-half  miles  south."  (North). 

Corner-stone  laid  for  first  City  Hall  and  Court  House  by  Dr.  J. 
V.  Z.  Blaney. 

Another  smallpox  scare  and  the  city  physician  ordered  to  vaccinate 
at  city's  expense. 

Slaughter-house  inspectors  appointed. 

Boat  inspection  for  cholera  cases  inaugurated.  Two  hundred  six- 
teen deaths  from  cholera  during  the  year. 

First  official  mortality  record,  but  for  a  few  years  it  is  still  inac- 
curate because  burials  outside  of  the  city  were  not  recorded,  the  record 
still  being  kept  by  the  city  sexton. 

Bridewell  founded,  located  at  Polk  Street  and  Fifth  Avenue. 

The  Illinois  General  Hospital  of  the  Lakes  became  Mercy  Hospital. 
At  this  hospital  Cook  County  charity  patients  were  cared  for  until  1863. 

1852:  More  Asiatic  cholera,  causing  630  deaths.  On  the  night 
of  October  13  there  were  sudden  attacks  of  cholera  in  every  ward  of 
the  city  and  yet  there  had  been  very  little  of  the  disease  previously.  A 
shanty  hospital  for  cholera  cases  was  ordered  built  on  the  beach  in  the 
north  division.  Again  families  using  hydrant  water  suffered  less  from 
the  disease  than  those  using  well  water.  Smallpox  was  prevalent. 

Cholera  deaths  from  1849  to  1852,  inclusive,  numbered  1944,  or 
one  death  in  each  64  of  the  population  for  the  four  years. 

City  physician's  salary  fixed  by  ordinance  at  $500.  This  ordinance 
provided  that  he  vaccinate  the  children  in  the  public  schools. 

Cook  County  Drainage  Commission  incorporated  by  act  of  the 
legislature.  Empowered  to  'make  local  improvements,  such  as  con- 
structing and  maintaining  ditches,  embankments,  culverts,  bridges  and 
roads  in  townships  in  the  Chicago  area,  and  to  assess  the  cost  of  such 
improvements  on  the  property. 

Lake  front  lost.     Illinois  Central  Railroad  received  permission 


ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION  1479 

from  the  legislature  to  lay  its  tracks  along  the  lake  shore.  Ordinance 
passed  granting  to  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  the  right  to  lay  and 
maintain  its  tracks  along  the  margin  of  the  lake  from  the  southern 
limits  of  the  city  and  across  the  open  space  known  as  Lake  Park  to 
Randolph  Street. 

First  iron  water  pipe  laid.    In  Clark  Street ;  4  inches  in  diameter. 

Calumet  Feeder  for  Canal  deepened  to  a  uniform  depth  of  four 
feet. 

U.  S.  Marine  Hospital  opened.  Located  on  Michigan  Avenue  on 
the  Fort  Dearborn  tract.  Dr.  W.  B.  Herrick  in  charge.  Twenty  of  the 
64  patients  admitted  during  the  first  three  months  were  cases  of  remit- 
tent and  intermittent  fever. 

1853 :  Dr.  Brock  McVickar  appointed  city  physician.  Lot  pur- 
chased for  city  hospital  and  a  temporary  hospital  built.  Pest  house 
moved  further  away  from  populated  portion  of  the  city.  Smallpox 
more  prevalent. 

American  Medical  Association  appointed  a  committee  to  study 
epidemics  in  the  central  states.  Dr.  John  Evans  appointed  to  furnish 
reports  for  Illinois. 

City  Hall  and  County  Buildings  at  present  location  first  occupied. 

Union  Park  laid  out  this  year. 

State  law  passed  requiring  druggists  and  others  to  label  medicines 
sold  at  retail. 

Temperature  in  the  three  summer  months  considerably  above  the 
mean. 

Ordinance  passed  providing  for  fish  inspection  on  a  fee  basis. 

1854:  Ordinance  passed  providing  for  a  system  of  quarantine  for 
cholera  and  smallpox  cases.  The  number  of  deaths  was  greater  than 
in  any  previous  year,  due  mainly  to  the  prevalence  of  smallpox  from 
which  there  occurred  1,424  deaths.  City  council  authorized  establish- 
ment of  a  cholera  hospital  at  i8th  and  Arnold  Streets. 

Chicago  Avenue  Water  Works  put  into  operation,  in  February.  It 
consisted  of  one  reservoir  with  a  capacity  of  about  half  a  million  gal- 
lons and  eight  and  three-quarters  miles  of  iron  pipes.  The  water  was 
obtained  from  the  lake  through  a  3O-inch  wooden  pipe  extending  about 
600  feet  out  into  the  lake  to  a  wooden  crib,  and  conveyed  to  a  pump 
well  under  the  engine  house.  The  engine  pumped  the  water  into  the 
mains  and  into  the  reservoir  in  the  south  division,  located  at  Adams 
and  Clark  Streets. 

Two  more  water  reservoirs  built,  one  at  Chicago  Avenue  and 
Sedgwick  Street ;  the  other  at  Morgan  and  Monroe  Streets. 

\\ater  pipes  and  taps  first  installed  in  buildings. 

Population  at  this  time  about  70,000. 


1480 


ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 


FIG.  CCXIII.— First  Water  Works   Built  on  the  Present  Site  of  the  Chi- 
cago Avenue  Pumping  Station.     Completed  in  February,  1854. 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Epidemics  and 
Sanitary  Conditions  of  Chicago  of  the  Cook  County  Medical  Society, 
began  the  publication  of  the  series  of  reports  on  the  health  of  the  city. 
These  were  continued  for  two  years. 

There  were  1,571  deaths  from  cholera  during  the  epidemics  of 
1854  to  1855,  °r  i  in  92  of  the  population  during  the  two  years. 

1855 :  Smallpox  more  prevalent,  causing  30  deaths.  Physicians 
neglected  to  report  cases.  First  use  of  quarantine  placard,  which  was 
placed  on  houses  where  cases  of  smallpox  were  found.  Deaths  from 
cholera  numbered  147. 

City  dispensary  established.  Suitable  office  procured  for  the 
Health  Department,  which  heretofore  used  the  city  clerk's  or  mayor's 
office. 

Ordinance  passed  licensing  and  controlling  night  soil  scavengers. 

Dr.  Levi  D.  Boone  elected  mayor. 

Board  of  Sewerage  Commissioners  created  by  act  of  the  legisla- 
ture. E.  S.  Chesbrough  appointed  chief  engineer.  Surveys  made  and 
plans  of  a  sewerage  system  drawn.  From  the  outset  Mr.  Chesbrough 
insisted  that  the  sewers  should  discharge  by  gravity.  This  necessitated 
the  raising  of  all  the  streets. 

E.  S.  Chesbrough  presented  a  plan  for  purifying  the  Chicago 
River  by  the  introduction  of  water  from  the  lake  so  as  to  produce  a 
flushing  effect  similar  to  that  created  by  rainfall. 


ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 


1481 


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1482  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

City  directory  lists  nine  plumbing  firms. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  the  water-works  supplied  50,000  inhabit- 
ants and  had  42  miles  of  pipe  in  use. 

1856:  General  health  of  city  much  better.  No  deaths  from  chol- 
era. Typhoid  fever  on  the  increase ;  very  prevalent  in  September. 

The  first  sewers  were  constructed  this  year  and  $100,000  of  bonds 
issued  to  cover  the  cost. 

Two  hundred  fifty-six  house  drains  laid.  Grade  raised  and  the 
streets  and  lots  in  downtown  section  filled  in  from  four  to  seven  feet. 
Court  action  to  enjoin  this  movement  overruled  by  Judge  Caton. 

E.  S.  Chesbrough  sent  to  Europe  to  study  sewer  systems. 

City  Hospital  demolished  and  reconstructed  of  stone  at  a  cost  of 
$75,000. 

Plans  made  to  locate  a  smallpox  hospital  on  the  north  beach  at 
the  present  site  of  Lincoln  Park. 

Board  of  Water  Commissioners  established  a  schedule  of  water 
rates. 

1857 :  New  city  hospital  completed.  The  medical  staff  appointed 
failed  to  organize,  owing  to  its  composition  of  Allopaths  and  Homeo- 
paths. Board  of  Health  goes  out  of  existence  on  account  of  the  absence 
of  cholera  or  other  alarming  epidemics,  and  probably  also  on  account  of 
the  controversy  over  the  hospital  staff. 

Highest  annual  mortality  from  malaria  since  the  records  began  in 
1856.  Rate,  5.36  per  10,000.  Since  then  the  disease  has  gradually 
declined,  disappearing  almost  entirely  as  a  cause  of  death  in  1902. 

A  plan  was  presented  to  and  approved  by  the  Board  of  Health  for 
a  bath  house  on  the  lake  shore  near  the  breakwater.  The  matter  was 
recommended  to  the  city  council  but  not  acted  upon. 

Chicago  Homeopathic  Medical  Society  organized. 

Chicago  Relief  and  Aid  Society  organized. 

1858:  Scarlet  fever  still  pervalent  and  dysentery  very  prevalent 
in  children  during  the  summer  months.  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  protests 
against  the  imperfect  manner  in  which  deaths  are  registered. 

Meat  first  packed  in  the  summertime ;  by  Tobey,  Booth  &  Co.  and 
Van  Brunt  and  Watrous. 

City  hospital  leased  to  private  physicians. 

Illinois  Charitable  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary  founded. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association  organized. 

Highest  annual  death  rate  from  tuberculosis  in  the  history  of  the 
city.  Rate,  39.22  per  10,000. 

1859:  Scarlet  fever  still  prevailed  and  the  mortality  from  it  was 
greater  than  from  any  other  disease. 


ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION  148* 

First  street  car  line  opened  (on  State  Street). 

Dr.  Rauch  read  paper  before  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  on 
danger  of  intramural  interments.  This  led  to  the  movement  resulting 
in  establishment  of  Lincoln  Park. 

Ordinance  passed  reserving  the  north  60  acres  of  the  city  cemetery 
on  the  North  Side  as  a  public  park.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
Lincoln  Park. 

Chicago  Medical  College  started. 

City  Hospital  leased  to  private  physicians  and  city  patients  cared 
for  at  the  rate  of  $3.00  per  week. 

Chicago  Home  for  the  Friendless  and  the  House  of  the  Good 
Shepherd  established. 

Board  of  Health  Abolished. 

1860:  The  city  council  by  an  ordinance  abolished  the  Board  of 
Health  and  also  the  offices  of  health  officer  and  city  physician  on  ac- 
count of  the  existing  financial  depression  and  the  absence  of  any  alarm- 
ing conditions. 

The  street  commissioner  was  charged  with  the  duties  heretofore 
performed  by  the  health  officer. 

Raising  of  grade  completed. 

First  Homeopathic  Medical  School,  Hahnemann  Medical  College, 
started. 

Chicago  Nursery  and  Half -Orphan  Asylum  established. 

U.  S.  Census  109,263. 

Consumption  of  water  4,703,524  gallons  as  compared  with  2,991,- 
412  gallons  in  1858. 

1861 :  Camp  Douglas  established.  Thirty  thousand  soldiers  were 
mustered  into  service  here.  Dr.  Edmund  Andrews,  post  surgeon ;  Dr. 
Brock  L.  McVickar,  assistant  post  surgeon. 

Board  of  Police  and  Board  of  Public  Works  created  by  act  of 
legislature,  each  consisting  of  three  members  to  be  elected,  one  from 
each  of  the  three  divisions  of  the  city.  ,  The  Board  of  Police  was 
~ charged,  among  other  things  with  (a)  guarding  the  public  health  ;'  (b) 
removing  nuisances  existing  in  public  streets,  roads,  places  and  high- 
ways, and  (c)  enforcing  all  health  ordinances  passed. 

1862:  Policeman  Charles  S.  Perry  appointed  as  acting  health 
officer. 

Diphtheria  became  more  common  and  smallpox  became  epidemic. 
The  typhoid  and  scarlet  fever  death  rates  also  increased  during  the 
year  and  there  was  a  marked  increase  in  the  deaths  from  all  causes. 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  called  attention  to  the  dangers  which  threatened 
the  city  on  account  of  the  neglect  of  sanitary  conditions  and  said ;  "I 


1484  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

know  of  no  city,  except  Chicago,  with  a  population  of  110,000,  that 
has  neither  a  health  officer,  a  board  of  health,  or  any  other  official 
sanitary  organization." 

February  10.  The  drinking  water  for  several  days  had  a  distinct 
taste  and  odor  of  the  river. 

The  unsatisfactory  condition  of  the  water  supply  was  made  the 
subject  of  two  resolutions  by  the  city  council. 

This  year  the  pumps  at  Bridgeport  were  started  to  pump  sewage 
from  the  South  Chicago  River  into  the  canal. 

The  city  hospital  at  i8th  and  Arnold  Streets  opened  as  an  army 
hospital  under  charge  of  Dr.  Brock  L.  McVickar. 

Camp  Douglas  became  a  military  prison,  receiving  33,000  prisoners 
in  all  during  its  existence. 

1863 :  Sanitary  condition  of  the  city  became  worse.  Along  the 
south  branch  of  the  river  were  many  packing  houses  where  over  a 
100,000  animals  were  slaughtered  every  year.  The  offal  and  filth  from 
these  were  discharged  into  the  ditches  and  waterways  flowing  into  the 
river,  and  accumulated  as  semi-solid  masses  of  putrefaction  in  the 
sloughs,  and  the  solid  refuse  was  deposited  in  the  fields  beyond.  Dur- 
ing the  summer  the  odor  from  this  was  abominable. 

Nine  hundred  forty-seven  cases  of  smallpox  occurred  and  the 
deaths  from  nearly  all  diseases  were  in  excess  of  those  of  previous 
years.  The  condition  of  the  pest  house  was  made  a  subject  of  inquiry 
by  the  Chicago  Medical  Society.  Frightful  mortality  among  prisoners 
at  Camp  Douglas. 

County  Hospital  established  in  the  town  of  Jefferson. 

Police  board  still  in  charge  of  sanitary  matters. 

The  city  charter,  as  amended  this  year,  defined  more  fully  the 
powers  and  duties  of  the  Police  Board,  acting  as  a  board  of  health, 
and  assigned  to  it  powers  previously  exercised  by  the  Board  of  Health. 

This  charter  also  conferred  on  the  city  council  power  to  summarily 
abate  a  nuisance  and  assess  the  same  against  the  real  estate  chargeable 
therewith,  and  described  the  manner  of  making  the  assessement,  the 
same  as  for  public  improvements. 

1864:  The  mortality  from  smallpox  was  fearful.  There  were 
1,233  cases  reported  and  283  deaths  resulted.  Hospital  facilities  in- 
adequate. Erysipelas  was  very  prevalent,  especially  among  the  stock- 
yards workers. 

E.  S.  Chesbrough  presented  a  report  on  the  engineering  work 
necessary  to  purify  the  river.  Work  on  Chicago  Avenue  Water  tunnel 
begun  in  March. 

The  whole  city  tract  on  the  North  Shore  was  set  aside  for  park 


ANNANS     OF    HEALTH    AND     SANITATION  1485 

purposes,  including  the  site  of  the  old  cemetery.    In  the  next  year  the 
tract  was  named  Lincoln  Park. 

Chicago  Dental  Society  organized. 

1865 :  Act  passed  by  legislature  requiring  dead  animals  to  be 
removed  within  24  hours  to  a  place  at  least  four  miles  outside  the  city 
limits  and  prohibiting  such  animals  to  be  rendered  within  the  aforesaid 
zone.  The  act  also  contained  the  following  additional  provisions : 

Requiring  rendering  plants  for  lard,  tallow,  etc.,  within  the  city  to  be 
equipped  with  condensers  and  other  machinery  to  prevent  nuisance. 

Requiring  tenements  to  be  provided  with  drains  to  carry  off  waste 
water  and  with  suitable  privy  vaults,  the  contents  of  which  shall  not  accu- 
mulate within  12  inches  of  the  surface. 

Requiring  the  board  of  police  commissioners  to  appoint  a  health  officer 
and  detail  a  sufficient  number  of  police  to  assist  him. 

Making  it  the  duty  of  the  state's  attorney  to  prosecute  for  violation  of 
this  law. 

The  condition  of  the  Chicago  River  was  made  the  subject  of  a 
comprehensive  investigation  by  a  commission  of  engineers,  which  re- 
commended that  the  summit  level  of  the  canal  be  lowered  so  as  to 
create  a  continuous  flow  of  water  from  the  lake  and  that  pollution 
be  kept  out  of  the  North  Branch. 

An  amendment  to  the  charter  gave  the  Board  of  Public  Works 
power  to  execute  a  plan  for  cleansing  the  Chicago  River  and  designated 
Roswell  B.  Mason  and  William  Gooding  additional  members  of  the 
board  to  act  with  the  other  members  to  carry  out  this  work. 

Board  of  Trade  appointed  a  committee  to  confer  with  the  city 
council  in  reference  to  the  measures  necessary  to  purify  the  Chicago 
River.  The  citizens  held  a  mass  meeting  and  appointed  a  committee 
of  30  to  secure  action  and  proper  laws.  Public  opinion  was  aroused 
and  much  feeling  was  created  on  behalf  of  the  different  propositions 
presented.  One  of  the  results  of  this  movement  was  the  enactment 
of  a  state  law  defining  the  duties  of  the  Board  of  Police,  as  a  board  of 
health,  and  authorizing  the  appointment  of  a  health  officer. 

Deepening  of  canal  agreed  upon. 

Dr.  T.  B.  Bridges,  elected  health  officer. 

The  cholera  was  said  to  be  on  its  way  to  the  city.  As  a  result  of 
a  communication  from  a  committee  appointed  at  a  public  meeting 
of  the  medical  profession  to  recommend  measures  to  improve  the 
sanitary  conditions  of  the  city,  and  the  measures  necessary  to  improve 
the  same  to  prevent  an  epidemic  of  cholera,  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  was  invited 
to  address  the  council  on  the  subject  of  sanitary  reform. 

Union  stockyards  opened  at  present  location. 

Day  scavenger  system  inaugurated  under  the  Board  of  Police  Com- 
missioners. 


1486  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

Mary  Thompson  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children  founded.  Lo- 
cation, Rush  and  Indiana  Streets. 

1866:  A  year  of  much  belated  sanitary  activity,  but  nevertheless 
cholera  visited  the  city  and  1,581  persons  contracted  the  disease,  of 
whom  990  died.  The  health  officer  was  given  32  temporary  assistants. 
The  disposal  of  night  soil  and  garbage  was  looked  after  and  11,337 
complaints  of  nuisances  were  registered.  One  thousand  men  were 
hired  and  an  effort  made  to  clean  the  city  in  a  week. 

Ordinance  passed  prohibiting  burial  within  the  city. limits. 

The  great  fatality  from  cholera  stimulated  the  citizens  interested 
in  sanitary  reform  to  action.  The  health  organizations  of  Philadelphia, 
New  York  and  Boston  were  investigated  and  the  satisfactory  manner 
in  which  the  Metropolitan  Health  Board  of  New  York  City  had  pre- 
vented the  spread  of  cholera  in  that  city  was  noted. 

At  a  meeting  of  citizens  a  committee  was  appointed  consisting  of 
Elliott  Anthony,  A.  C.  Coventry,  Dr.  J.  V.  Z.  Blaney,  and  Dr.  John  H. 
Rauch  to  prepare  a  bill  to  be  enacted  by  the  legislature  embodying  the 
main  features  of  the  Metropolitan  Health  Bill. 

Ordinance  passed  controlling  and  licensing  night  soil  and  offal 
scavengers. 

Cook  County  Hospital  moved  from  Jefferson  to  the  old  city  hos- 
pital at  1 8th  and  Arnold  Streets,  largely  through  the  efforts  of  Dr. 
George  K.  Amerman.  B.  F.  Chase  was  appointed  first  warden;  Nils 
B.  Quales  first  interne.  The  city  hospital  taken  over  was  started  during 
the  cholera  outbreak  in  1855,  leased  to  private  physicians  in  1858,  and 
confiscated  by  the  government  for  military  purposes  in  1863. 

Highest  annual  mortality  rate  in  the  history  of  the  city,  32.55  per 
1,000.  Deaths  under  five  years  greater  than  all  others. 

Appropriations  for  the  Board  of  Health,  $71,890.00,  including 
$37,440.00  for  scavenger  service  and  $25,000.00  for  special  sanitary 
expense. 

Board  of  Health  Reestablished. 

1867:  An  act  of  the  legislature  passed  this  year  provided  that 
the  mayor  and  six  other  persons  to  be  appointed  by  the  judges  of  the 
Superior  Court,  three  of  whom  shall  be  physicians,  shall  constitute  the 
Board  of  Health  ;  these  to  hold  office  for  six  years  ;  two  to  be  appointed 
annually.  The  board  was  given  power  to  enact  by-laws  and  regulations. 
Salary  of  board  members,  $500.00.  President  elected  annually  from 
the  members.  The  law  also  provided  for  the  appointment  of  a  sani- 
tary superintendent  by  the  board,  at  a  salary  of  $2,500. 

Fine  for  violating  by-laws  of  the  Board  of  Health  ordinances  of 
the  city,  $5.00  to  $500.00,  in  addition  to  existing  penalties. 

Board  given  unlimited  powers  to  act  in  case  of  an  epidemic. 


ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION  1487 

New  Board  of  Health  appointed,  Dr.  Homer  A.  Johnson,  president. 
The  board  was  organized  by  the  formation  of  ,'hree  standing  commit- 
tees, viz. :  Sanitation,  Finance  and  Ordinances. 

Dr.  J.  H.  Ranch  was  appointed  sanitary  superintendent,  and  16 
medical  men  as  sanitary  inspectors.  City  divided  into  districts  and  a 
thorough  sanitary  survey  made.  This  investigation  inaugurated  the 
inspection  and  control  of  housing  conditions  in  the  city.  Publicity 
was  sought  to  secure  co-operation  of  the  citizens,  by  giving  notice  in 
the  papers  of  the  methods  and  purposes  of  the  survey.  A  circular  was 
issued  in  English  and  German,  giving  a  list  of  efficient  disinfectants 
and  methods  of  using  the  same.  Many  reports  of  a  more  technical 
nature  were  read  and  published  by  the  sanitary  superintendent. 

With  the  appointment  of  the  Board  of  Health  this  year,  real 
efficiency  was  for  the  first  time  shown  in  sanitary  administration. 

Ordinance  passed  making  it  illegal  for  anyone  except  scavengers 
under  contract  with  the  city  to  remove  garbage. 

Ordiance  passed  providing  that  no  child  be  received  or  retained 
in  the  public  schools  who  has  not  been  vaccinated. 

Ordinance  passed  providing  that  no  privy  vault  be  constructed  or 
cleaned  without  a  permit. 

One  thousand  deaths  from  cholera  occurred  in  the  epidemic  of 
1866-67,  or  an  average  of  one  death  to  425  of  the  population. 

First  water  tunnel  completed,  supplying  the  Chicago  Avenue 
Pumping  Station.  Inside  diameter  five  feet ;  extending  two  miles  into 
the  lake. 

Smallpox  increased.  Nine  hundred  sixty-eight  cases  and  123 
deaths  from  the  disease  during  the  year.  Vigorous  efforts  made  to  vac- 
cinate. Vaccination  and  inspection  extended  to  the  public  schools. 

Condition  of  meat  supply  investigated  and  it  was  ascertained  that 
seven  per  cent,  was  unfit  for  use  and  three  per  cent,  diseased. 

U.  S.  Marine  Hospital  built  on  ten-acre  tract  in  Lake  View. 

1868:  Much  improvement  in  the  registration  of  deaths.  Small- 
pox outbreak  continued  during  first  four  months.  There  were  1,286 
cases  and  150  deaths  from  the  disease.  Sanitary  survey  completed  in 
April.  System  of  meat  inspection  inaugurated  at  the  stockyards. 
Texas  fever  noted  among  cattle  at  the  Union  Stockyards  and  was  made 
the  subject  of  a  special  investigation  by  Dr.  Rauch. 

Dr.  Rauch  read  a  paper  before  the  Academy  of  Sciences  on 
Public  Parks,  Their  Effects  upon  the  Moral,  Physical  and  Sanitary 
Conditions  of  Inhabitants  in  Large  Cities. 

Bennett  Medical  College,  the  first  ecletic  medical  school,  gives 
first  course  of  lectures.  Dr.  Labon  S.  Major,  one  of  the  pioneer  physi- 
cians of  the  eclectic  school  in  Chicago,  one  of  the  founders. 


1488  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

Drs.  N.  Senn  and  W.  S.  Quine,  internes  at  Cook  County  Hospital. 

Report  on  the  control  -of  prostitution  by  Edmund  Andrews  finds 
that  the  proportion  of  prostitutes  to  population  is  about  24  per  cent, 
greater  in  cities  which  adopt  the  license  system.  Proportion  of  prosti- 
tutes to  population  in  Chicago,  i  to  230.  Venereal  disease  cases  in 
Chicago  580  to  4,147  of  all  other  diseases  treated  in  civil  hospitals.  Re- 
commended that  those  who  have  the  disease  should  pay  their  own 
doctors  to  be  cured  and  that  after  that  experience  will  show  what 
other  steps  should  be  taken. 

Ordinance  passed  requiring  plumbers  to  be  licensed  and  to  take 
out  permits  for  work  to  be  done. 

The  sanitary  committee  of  the  Board  of  Health  made  a  report 
on  the  Healy  Slough  located  at  Deering,  Main,  Quarry  and  L,yman 
Streets  and  Archer  Avenue  and  ordered  the  nuisance  therefrom  abated. 
The  death  rate  in  the  vicinity  was  found  to  be  I  in  40. 

Report  on  Geologic  Survey  of  Cook  County  by  H.  M.  Bannister 
published. 

Very  hot  weather  in  July. 

1869:  First  attention  given  to  the  inspection  of  milk,  121  speci- 
mens being  examined. 

Relation  of  diseases  to  drainage  and  sewage  studied;  26.13  miles 
of  sewers  constructed,  making  a  total  of  136.4  for  the  city  to  date. 

Another  investigation  of  condition  of  river,  which  was  getting 
worse  from  year  to  year.  Dr.  Rauch  concludes  that  the  river  is  most 
offensive  when  the  lake  level  is  high,  and  that  the  condition  of  the 
river  is  largely  dependent  upon  the  amount  of  rainfall.  He  predicts 
that  the  slip  being  dug  from  the  Union  Stockyards  to  the  south  branch  - 
will  become  foul  unless  means  for  flushing  it  are  provided. 

Large  main  under  the  river  broken  by  a  ship  dragging  her  anchor, 
and  the  West  Side  was  without  water  for  three  days. 

By  act  of  legislature  the  North,  South  and  West  Chicago  Parks 
systems  were  created. 

New  water  pumping  station  and  tower  at  Chicago  Avenue  com- 
pleted. (It  was  damaged  by  fire  in  1871,  and  restored.) 

1870:  U.  S.  Weather  Bureau  observation  station  established  in 
Chicago.  Meteorologic  records  extant  as  far  back  as  1830,  but  are 
unofficial.  These  were  collected  by  Hazen  from  various  sources. 

High  mortality  among  children.  There  were  916  deaths  from 
cholera  infantum.  Sixty-two  and  eight-tenths  per  cent,  of  all  deaths 
were  in  children  under  five  years. 

First  milk  ordinance  passed.  This  made  it  unlawful  to  sell  skim 
milk  without  stating  the  character  of  the  same. 


AXXALS     OF     HEALTH     AXD     SANITATION  1489 

Report  to  the  city  council  by  the  sanitary  superintendent  calling  at- 
tention to  the  increased  number  of  railroad  accidents  (34  in  1869) 
and  suggested  that  the  railroads  be  required  to  build  viaducts  over 
the  principal  streets  which  they  cross. 

First  small  parks  established,  viz :  Jefferson,  Ellis  and  Vernon 
Parks,  and  Washington  Square. 

Operation  of  pump  at  Bridgeport  discontinued,  and  pump  sold 
three  years  later. 

\Yomen's  Hospital  Medical  College  founded. 

Appropriation  for  Board  of  Health,  $52,068.00,  including  $19,- 
243.00  for  scavenger  service. 

Population  according  to  U.  S.  Census,  298,977. 

1871 :  Summer  characterized  by  a  period  of  prolonged  and  severe 
draught.  October  8-9,  Chicago  Fire.  Chicago  Avenue  Water-works 
burned  at  3  :2O  A.  M.,  October  9.  Eighteen  thousand  buildings  des- 
troyed ;  93,000  persons  homeless ;  107  deaths.  The  old  Lake  Hospital, 
used  for  smallpox  cases,  also  destroyed.  Relief  and  Aid  Society  given 
charge  of  relief  work.  Expended  $4,415,454,  giving  aid  to  23,054 
families.  Dr.  Rauch  in  charge  of  health  work.  All  officers  of  the 
Health  Department  were  made  special  policemen  during  the  emergency 

City  council  passed  an  ordinance,  fixing  price  of  bread  at  eight 
cents.  Saloons  closed  at  9  P.  M. 

Records  of  Health  Department  lost  in  the  fire,  including  all  records 
of  births  and  deaths. 

Month  following  the  fire  was  one  of  high  mortality.  Much 
crowding  in  barracks.  Smallpox  appeared.  The  old  cholera  hospital, 
at  33rd  Street  and  Wentworth  Avenue,  was  used  temporarily  for  the 
reception  of  cases.  Sixty-three  thousand  vaccinated,  which  action 
doubtless  prevented  an  epidemic. 

A  sanitary  history  of  Chicago,  from  1833  to  1870,  by  Dr.  John  H. 
Rauch,  published  with  the  annual  reports  of  the  Board  of  Health, 
issued  this  year  but  nearly  all  the  copies  were  destroyed  in  the  Great 
Fire. 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  made  a  report  on  correspondence  with  state  medi- 
cal societies  concerning  the  means  of  elevating  the  standard  of  medical 
education. 

Deepening  of  canal  completed  at  a  cost  of  $3,300,883.  Quite  a 
strong  current  created  and  a  favorable  effect  upon  the  river  was  noted, 
but  it  was  soon  found  that  this  was  insufficient. 

Chicago  Foundling  Home  opened. 

1872:  Annual  death  rate, reached  27.64,  an  increase  of  32.6  per 
cent,  over  the  previous  year,  as  a  result  of  conditions  following  the 


1490  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

Great  Fire.  There  were  2,382  cases  of  smallpox.  Second  highest 
death  rate  from  all  causes  recorded  this  year,  27.64  per  1,000.  Great 
fatality  among  children  under  five  years,  which  continued  for  two 
years.  Highest  on  record. 

Ordinance  passed  authorizing  the  sanitary  superintendent  to  re- 
move smallpox  cases  to  the  hospital  by  forcible  measures. 

The  erection  of  new  distilleries,  slaughter-houses  and  rendering 
plants  prohibited  between  Fullerton  Avenue,  3ist  Street  and  Western 
Avenue.  Existing  rendering  plants  in  this  territory  prohibited  to 
operate  between  April  i  and  October  i. 

Required  that  no  more  than  three  head  of  cattle  shall  be  kept  on 
one  lot  or  stable  without  a  permit  from  the  Board  of  Health. 

Epizootic  among  horses  arrived  in  city.  First  started  in  Canada 
and  worked  its  way  west.  Eleven  hundred  fifty  horses  died  of  the 
disease  in  the  city. 

American  Public  Health  Association  organized.  Dr.  John  H. 
Ranch,  treasurer. 

Construction  of  water-works  at  Blue  Island  and  Ashland  Avenues 
begun. 

December  marked  by  a  period  of  very  prolonged  cold.  December 
24  the  coldest  day  on  record.  Temperature,  23°F.  below  zero. 

Ogden-Wentivorth  Canal  completed  by  private  undertaking  for 
the  purpose  of  draining  Mud  L,ake.  Thus  a  communication  was  estab- 
lished with  the  Des  Plaines  and  the  west  fork  of  the  Chicago  River. 
This  had  the  effect  of  supplying  the  west  fork  with  water  from  this 
new  drainage  ditch  instead  of  from  the  Chicago  River,  and  tended  to 
lessen  the  current  in  the  latter. 

1873 :  First  building  ordinance  of  consequence  was  passed. 
Building  control  placed  under  the  Fire  Department. 

Cholera  appeared  again,  causing  48  deaths  in  the  city  limits  or  one 
to  every  7,916  of  the  population.  Most  of  the  cases  occurred  south  of 
37th  and  west  of  State  Street.  The  water  used  in  this  territory  was 
supplied  from  shallow  wells,  the  city  water  system  extending  only  as 
far  soTTCh  as  39th  Street.  Chicago  Society  of  Physicians  appointed  a 
committee  to  investigate  the  history  and  nature  of  the  disease  then  pre- 
vailing in  the  Bridgeport  district  and  Dr.  I.  N.  Danforth  made  micro- 
scopic examinations  of  lesions,  which  was  the  first  use  of  the  micro- 
scope in  the  study  of  the  disease  in  the  United  States  during  the  1873 
outbreak. 

Smallpox  still  prevalent;  1,766  cases  reported. 

Dr.  Rauch  resigned  as  sanitary  superintendent  on  August  5  and 
was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Ben  S.  Miller. 


ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION  1491 

1874:  New  smallpox  hospital,  located  on  the  grounds  of  the 
House  of  Correction  at  26th  Street  and  California  Avenue,  completed. 
This  was  used  as  a  smallpox  hospital  during  the  next  20  years. 

Much  nuisance  from  slaughter-houses  and  Board  of  Health  passed 
regulation  that  all  should  put  in  apparatus  to  consume  the  gases  from 
rendering  tanks.  Tobey  and  Booth  Slaughter-House,  at  i8th  Street 
and  the  river,  is  particularly  mentioned  in  this  connection  on  account 
of  its  location  near  the  residential  district.  The  south  branch  a  stag- 
nant, pool  of  abomination. 

Distilleries,  of  which  there  were  seven  in  the  city,  came  under  the 
notice  of  the  health  officer,  on  account  of  the  slop-feeding  of  4,372 
cattle  in  the  city. 

Births  registered  numbered  9,794. 

Second  tunnel  to  the  crib  built  at  Chicago  Avenue.  Land  tunnel 
extended  to  Ashland  Avenue  and  22nd  Stfeet. 

Law  enacted  by  the  legislature  prohibiting  the  licensing  of  houses 
of  ill-fame  and  making  it  unlawful  for  any  Board  of  Health  or  employe 
thereof  to  interfere  in  the  management  of  any  house  of  ill-fame,  or 
to  provide  in  any  manner  for  the  medical  inspection  or  examination 
of  the  inmates  thereof. 

1875 :  By  a  referendum  vote  the  city  adopted  the  Cities  and  Vil- 
lages Act  in  lieu  of  the  charter  then  in  force.  This  act  provided  for 
the  appointment  of  a  Board  of  Health  and  also  gave  the  city  council 
the  power,  by  a  two-thirds  vote,  to  create  offices,  and  the  mayor,  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  city  council,  to  appoint  such  officers  for  a 
period  not  exceeding  two  years. 

Large  amount  of  milk  in  city,  especially  in  the  west  division  ob- 
tained from  cows  fed  on  brewery  slops.  This  milk  sold  for  half  the 
price  of  country  milk.  Mortality  of  infants  in  the  aforesaid  sections 
of  the  city  was  four-fifths  of  the  aggregate  of  all  ages. 

Vaccination  continued  vigorously,  especially  in  the  schools.  Only 
15  cases  of  smallpox  reported. 

There  were  239  suits  brought  for  violation  of  health  ordinances. 
Long  list  of  food  condemnations  listed. 

The  esprit  de  corps  of  the  28  men  on  the  sanitary  squad  com- 
plained of  by  health  officer.  They  were  appointed  by  the  mayor  and 
not  subject  to  discharge  by  the  Board  of  Health. 

Cook  County  Hospital  moved  to  present  location. 

Coldest  year  on  record.    Accumulated  deficiency  in  temperature, 
1,231  degrees  Fahrenheit. 
Department  of  Health  Established. 

18/6:  Department  of  Health  created,  superseding  the  Board  of 
Health.  At  the  meeting  of  the  city  council  on  July  19,  Alderman  John 


1492  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

W.  Stewart  of  the  Select  Committee  of  the  City  Council  on  Reorgan- 
ization of  the  Board  of  Health  brought  in  an  ordinance  abolishing  the 
Board  of  Health  and  establishing  the  Department  of  Health,  and 
moved  its  passage.  Alderman  Cullerton  moved  to  amend  the  ordinance 
by  striking  out  the  section  abolishing  the  office  of  city  physician,  which 
amendment  was  carried.  He  then  moved  to  pass  the  amended  ordi- 
nance, which  motion  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  2.7  to  o.  The  ordinance 
provided  for  the  appointment  of  a  commissioner  of  health  at  a  salary 
of  $1,500;  an  assistant  commissioner  at  $1,200;  a  secretary  at  $1,200; 
an  assistant  at  $1,000;  two  meat  inspectors  and  13  sanitary  policemen, 
at  $60  per  month,  each,  and  transferred  the  powers  and  duties  of  the 
Board  of  Health  to  the  newly  created  department. 

Dr.  B.  L.  McVickar,  the  first  Health  Commissioner,  was  appointed 
July  24,  1876,  and  resigned  November  22,  1876.  Mr.  H.  P.  Wright, 
registrar  of  vital  statistics,  then  served  as  commissioner  temporarily. 

Total  appropriation  for  the  year,  $62,016.35.  This  included  the 
following  items:  Scavenger  work,  $17,000.00;  removal  of  dead  ani- 
mals, $6,375.00;  unpaid  bills,  $2,001.35,  leaving  a  balance  of  $36,- 
640.00  for  general  health  work. 

The  greatest  scarlet  fever  epidemic  in  the  history  of  the  city  oc- 
curred. Death  rate  per  100,000  from  the  disease,  19.89.  Continued 
into  next  year,  which  showed  the  second  highest  fatality  from  the 
disease. 

Chicago  Woman's  Club  organized  this  year. 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  made  report  on  Progress  of  Medical  Education 
in  the  United  States.  This  was  published  by  the  National  Bureau  of 
Education  and  was  an  epoch  making  factor  in  raising  the  standard 
of  medical  education  in  this  country. 

1877:  Dr.  Oscar  DeWolf  appointed  commissioner  of  health  on 
January  29.  He  held  the  office  for  twelve  years  and  inaugurated  many 
of  the  measures  which,  in  later  years,  when  more  fully  developed, 
proved  effective  in  the  prevention  of  disease. 

Dr.  J.  S.  Knox  appointed  assistant  commissioner,  but  served  less 
than  a  year.  Dr.  Brock  L.  McVickar,  secretary.  Health  Department 
annual  report  lists  27  employes,  including  three  medical  inspectors,  one 
registrar  of  vital  statistics,  one  secretary,  one  clerk,  one  milk  inspector, 
eighteen  sanitary  police  officers  and  two  meat  inspectors. 

Salary  of  health  commissioner  raised  to  $3,000.00. 

City  council  Committee  on  Health  (and  County  Relations)  first 
created.  Alderman  J.  T.  McAuley,  chairman. 

Ordinance  passed  regulating  the  sale  of  milk  and  providing  for  a 
^niilk  inspector,  to  which  position  Louis  Merki  was  appointed.  Twenty- 
nine  convictions  of  milk  dealers  obtained. 


ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION  149S 

Study  made  of  lake  pollution,  which  was  found  to  be  derived  from 
two  sources,  viz. ;  the  Chicago  River  and  the  dumping  of  refuse. 

Fullerton  Avenue  conduit  for  supplying  lake  water  to  the  north 
I) ranch  under  construction. 

Scarlet  fever  still  very  prevalent. 

Illinois  State  Board  of  Health  created.  Dr.  J.  H.  Rauch  first 
president  and  acting  secretary.  Dr.  F.  W.  Reilly  appointed  sanitary 
inspector. 

State  law  enacted  regulating  the  practice  of  medicine.  The  en- 
forcement of  this  law  was  one  of  the  principal  functions  of  the  State 
Board  of  Health. 

Reporting  of  contagious  tiiseases  by  physicians  first  enforced  by 
the  city*.  Placards  required,  for*  scarlet  fever  cases. 

Fifth  Annual  Session  of  the  American  Public  Health  Association 
met  in  Chicago.  Dr.  H.  M.  Lyman  delivered  an  address,  protesting 
strongly  against  the  placarding  of  scarlet  fever  cases.  He  deplored 
the  waste  of  the  cards  and  tacks  and  said  the  people  revolted  against 
the  yellow  card  nuisance. 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  read  a  paper  on  the  Means  of  Diminishing  the 
Infant  Mortality  from  Diarrheal  Diseases,  laying  stress,  on  ventilation 
and  the  reduction  of  the  temperature  of  the  body  in  their  prevention. 
He  mentioned  floating  hospitals  and  country  outings  as  the  ideal  pre- 
ventive measures  to  be  aimed  at. 

Nuisance  from  stockyards  very  acute.  Unsuccessful  attempt  at 
prosecution  in  police  court.  Citizens'  Association  appointed  a  commit- 
tee to  aid  in  procuring  evidence.  Ordinance  passed,  prepared  by  City 
Attorney  R.  S.  Tuthill,  licensing  slaughtering  and  rendering  plants. 
This  ordinance  laid  the  foudation  of  all  future  licensing  ordinances 
passed"  as  sanitary  measures. 

Dam  built  in  branch  of  the  Des  Plaines  communicating  with  the 
Ogden  canal  after  the  city  had  filed  complaint  against  the  effect  of  the 
ditch  on  the  river. 

1878:  Birth  registration  thought  to  be  approximately  complete; 
11,152  births  registered. 

Twenty-seven  indictments  of  operators  of  slaughtering  and  render- 
ing plants,  for  creating  and  maintaining  public  nuisances,  found  by  the 
Grand  Jury.  This  was  a  result  of  the  campaign  made  to  rid  the  city 
of  the  slaughtering  and  rendering  house  nuisance.  The  new  ordinance 
was  sustained  in  the  supreme  court.  The  result  of  this  movement  was 
that  all  the  slaughter-houses  were  established  outside  of  the  city  limits, 
but  soon  the  city  grew  and  embraced  the  new  location. 

Study  made  of  the  prevalence  of  trichinae  in  hogs  slaughtered  at 
the  yards.  Eight  per  cent,  of  100  hogs  examined  afflicted  with  trichi- 


1494  ANNALS     OF    HEALTH    AND    SANITATION 

nae.  Examination  made  by  Dr.  W.  H.  Belfield,  who  found  that  temper- 
ature less  than  boiling  destroys  the  same. 

Warmest  weather  on  record. 

Highest  death  rate  from  whooping  cough  on  record.  Rate  5.38 
per  10,000. 

Sulphur  fumigation  advocated  after  smallpox  cases. 

1879 '  Ordinance  providing  for  the  inspection  of  all  places  of 
employment  passed  and  six  inspectors  appointed  to  enforce  it. 

Thirty-four  of  the  67  milk  samples  analyzed  contained  less  than 
2^  per  cent,  butter  fat. 

State  law  passed  prohibiting  the  sale  of  adulterated  milk  and  milk 
obtained  from  cows  which  are  diseased  or  fed  on  distillery  wastes. 

Survey  of  tenements  made  by  a  volunteer  corps  of  35  physicians, 
of  which  number  Dr.  D.  A.  K.  Steele  was  one. 

First  recommendation  of  the  State  Board  of  Health  to  the  City  of 
Chicago  when,  after  an  investigation  of  the  canal  in  the  valley  of  the 
Des  Plaines,  the  Board  recommended  that  the  pumping  works  at 
Bridgeport  be  rebuilt  in  order  to  cleanse  the  channel. 

D.  C.  Cregier  appointed  city  engineer  to  succeed  E.  S.  Chesbrough. 

1880:  Thirty-four  per  cent,  of  101  milk  samples  were  found  to 
contain  less  than  2T/2  per  cent,  butter  fat. 

Highest  diphtheria  death  rate  in  history  of  city,  29.07  per  10,000. 

First  factory  and  workshop  inspection  report  made  this  year. 
W.  H.  Genung,  chief  inspector.  Six  inspectors  of  factories  and  work- 
shops employed. 

Fullerton  Avenue  conduit  completed,  12  feet  in  diameter,  between 
the  lake  and  the  north  branch.  Water  forced  through  by  two  screws. 
At  times  water  was  pumped  lake  ward. 

The  first  nurses'  training  school,  the  Illinois  Training  School  for 
Nurses  established. 

Population  according  to  U.  S.  Census,  501,185. 

1881  :  A  year  of  great  immigration.  Severe  epidemic  of  small- 
pox started  among  immigrants,  there  being  1,180  deaths  from  the  dis- 
ease and  nearly  3,000  cases.  City  council  revokes  the  ordinance  per- 
mitting forcible  removal  of  cases  to  hospitals.  Second  highest  annual 
mortality  from  smallpox  in  the  history  of  the  city.  Rate  21.85  Per 
10,000. 

Typhoid  and  diarrheal  diseases  were  also  very  prevalent.  Highest 
mortality  of  children  under  one  year  since  the  Fire. 

Department  of  Buildings  organised  and  given  control  of  building 
inspection. 


ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION  1495 

Sanitation  of  tenements,  workshops  and  lodging  houses  brought 
under  the  control  of  the  Department  of  Health  by  the  enactment  of  a 
state  law  which  required  all  plans  of  such  buildings  to  be  submitted  to 
the  health  commissioner  for  approval. 

Smoke  control  ordinance  passed  by  the  city  council.  Enforcement 
of  same  assigned  to  laboratory  of  Health  Department. 

Ordinance  passed  permitting  bathing  in  Lake  Michigan  at  the 
foot  of  Huron  Street,  and  requiring  that  a  six-foot  fence  be  constructed 
there  on  the  shore  line. 

Health  Department  appropriation,  $95,780.00,  including  $55,000.00 
for  scavenger  service. 

Health  Department  report  lists  40  employes. 

1882:  Severe  smallpox  epidemic  continued,  with  3,000  cases  and 
1,292  deaths.  Death  rate  23.02  per  100,000.  This  is  the  highest  annual 
death  rate  from  smallpox  in  the  history  of  the  city.  11,504  vaccinations 
were  performed.  Smallpox  hospital  placed  under  charge  of  Catholic 
Sisters. 

Commissioner  DeWolf  given  professorship  of  Public  Hygiene  in 
the  Chicago  Medical  College  and  made  honorary  member  of  British 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science. 

Dr.  F.  W.  Reilly  appointed  assistant  secretary  of  the  State  Board 
of  Health. 

1883  :  Ordinance  passed  requiring  that  the  commissioner  of  health 
shall  annually  make  a  report  to  the  city  council  of  statistics  of  labor, 
wages  and  cost  of  living  in  connection  with  the  several  trades  and 
occupations. 

Ordinance  passed  licensing  ordinaries  (restaurants). 

The  Sanitary  News,  a  semi-monthly  journal  of  sanitary  science, 
started.  G.  P.  Brown,  editor. 

Considerable  attention  to  workshop  inspection;  2,444  tenement 
plans  approved,  of  which  1,142  were  so-called  "flat"buildings. 

First  course  of  lectures  on  Germ  Theory  of  Disease  in  the  city 
given  by  Dr.  H.  Gradle  at  the  Chicago  Medical  College. 

Chicago  Veterinary  College  established. 

System  of  plumbing  and  sewerage  ventilation  first  introduced  in 
accordance  with  the  state  law  passed  the  previous  year. 

1884:  Exhaustive  investigation  of  places  of  employment,  in- 
cluding wages  paid  to  workers  and  cost  of  living. 

Smoke  inspector  appointed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Health. 

Highest  annual  mortality  from  measles  on  record,  5.06  per  10,000. 

New  pumps  at  Bridgeport  completed  and  put  into  operation. 


1496 


ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 


PLAN     OF 
CANAL    PUMPING    WORKS 


FIG.   CCXV — Ground  Plan  of  Canal  Pumping  Works  at  Bridgeport. 


SECTION  OF 
CANAL  PUMPING  WORKS. 


FlG.  CCXVI — Section  of  Canal  Pumping  Works   at  Bridgeport,   as  rebuilt 
and  put  in  operation  in  June,  1884.  (From  Andreas  History  of  Chicago.) 


ANNALS     OF     HEALTH    AND     SANITATION  1497 

Chicago  Master  Plumbers'  Association  organized.  Andrew  Young, 
first  president. 

Ordinance  passed  requiring  seats  for  females  at  places  of  em- 
ployment. 

Report  of  Citizens'  Association  on  Tenement  House  Conditions, 
published,  setting  forth  the  wretched  condition  of  tenements  where 
working  men  are  housed. 

1885 :  Health  Department  adopted  contract  system  of  scavenger 
service.  Cost  of  service  this  year  $75,000,  which  was  about  one-third 
of  the  cost  of  the  old  system  in  the  previous  year. 

Health  Department  report  lists  61  employes. 

Bill  passed  by  the  legislature,  regulating  the  production  and  sale 
of  dairy  products. 

Drainage,  canal  suggested  and  outlined  by  Messrs.  Cooley,  Guthrie 
and  Dr.  F.  \Y.  Reilly  in  a  report  of  a  sub-committee  of  the  Citizens' 
Association  Committee  on  Drainage  and  Water  Supply. 

Another  cholera  scare;  $100,000  asked  for  cleaning  the  "city. 

All  of 'the  140,000  children  attending  the  schools  examined  and 
found  to  be  protected  against  smallpox. 

Prof.  J.  H.  Long  made  an  examination  of  the  city's  milk  supply, 
found  half  of  samples  below  grade  and  suggested  the  chemical  stand- 
ards which  were  subsequently  adopted.  He  continued  testing  the  milk 
supply  for  three  years  and  from  this  developed  the  present  milk  in- 
spection work  of  the  Department. 

First  attention  called  to  flics  as  carriers  of  disease  by  Dr.  F.  W. 
Reilly  in  an  editorial  in  the  Morning  News. 

Heaviest  rainfall  on  record — 6.19  inches  in  24  hours  on  August 
2  and  3. 

Lake  level  unusually  high. 

Hyde  Park  Water  Tunnel,  one  mile  in  length,  completed.  Before 
this  the  Hyde  Park  station  was  supplied  by  water  taken  from  the  lake 
through  iron  pipes  extending  1,400  to  2,000  feet  into  the  lake. 

First  intubation  in  city-  by  Dr.  F.  E.  Waxham. 

City  Hall,  started  in  1881,  occupied. 

Daily  News  Fresh  Air  Sanitarium  established. 

1886:  Appropriation  for  Health  Department,  $258,356.34,  in- 
« eluding  $176,196.34  for  scavenger  service. 

Salary  of  health  commissionerTaised  to  $4,000. 

Report  received  from  committee  appointed  by  city  council  to  in- 
vestigate smoke  consumers. 

Resume  published  by  the  Health  Department  of  housing  work 
done  during  the  last  ten  years. 

Lake  level  unusually  high. 


H98  ANNALS    OF    HEALTH    AND     SANITATION 

Citizens'  Association  assisted  in  smoke  abatement  work. 

Efforts  started  to  stop  the  coloring  of  milk. 

Report  made  on  the  Water  Supply  and  Sewage  Disposal  of 
Chicago  by  Dr.  J.  H.  Rauch,  Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Health, 
based  on  examinations  made  by  J.  H.  Long.  The  diversion  of  the 
sewage  from  the  lake  into  the  river  and  canal  and  dilution  of  the 
same  with  an  average  of  14,000  cubic  feet  of  water  for  every  100,000 
inhabitants  is  recommended.  The  construction  of  a  proper  waterway 
to  carry  out  this  plan  is  urged  by  the  Board. 

1887:  A  new  act  of  the  legislature  passed,  regulating  the  practice 
of  medicine  and  providing  for  the  appointment  of  a  state  board  of 
health  and  the  registration  of  physicians. 

Garbage  furnace  capable  of  consuming  150  tons  daily  constructed 
at  Seymour  Street  and  Grand  Avenue.  Cost,  $7,000.00. 

Commissioner  recommended  that  custom  of  dumping  garbage  in 
clayholes  be  abandoned. 

Inspection  of  31,171  occupied  dwellings  made  and  plumbing  found 
defective  in  85  per  cent. 

,•  -  Plumbing  law  drafted  in  co-operation  with  Illinois  Association  of 
Architects  and  Chicago  Master  Plumbers'  Association,  but  failed  to 
pass  the  legislature. 

Tunnel,  3,000  feet  long,  completed  at  Chicago  Avenue  for  emer- 
gencies in  case  of  fire.  This  at  times  was  used  for  the  regular  water 
supply,  especially  in  1892. 

Drainage  and  Water  Supply  Commission  appointed  by  mayor  in 
accordance  with  a  resolution  of  the  city  council,  with  Rudolph  Hering 
as  chief  engineer,  made  report  recommending  the  construction  of  a 
new  drainage  channel. 

1888:     High  death  rate  of  children  under  five  years. 

Health  Commissioner  recommended  the  establishment  of  free 
baths. 

Foundations  laid  for  the  quarantine  of  diphtheria  by  declaration 
that  it  is  not  a  filth  disease  but  a  contagious  disease  like  smallpox. 

Visiting  Nurse  Association  founded  this  year. 

Comprehensive  examination  of  water  in  Illinois  and  Michigan 
Canal  and  Illinois  River  by  J.  H.  Long. 

Garbage  question  still  pressing  and  required  much  attention  on 
the  part  of  the  Health  Department.  Garbage  receptacles  of  standard 
style  designed.  Over  half  of  the  expenditures  of  the  Department  were 
for  scavenger  service.  Cost  of  maintenance  of  crematory,  $11,643.00. 

Electric  street  lighting  system  inaugurated. 

Health  Department  report  lists  67  employes.  Meat  and  stock  yard 
inspectors  increased  to  nine. 


ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AN1>     SANITATION  1499 

1889 :  Dr.  Swayne  Wickersham  became  commissioner  of  health. 
Andrew  Young  appointed  chief  tenement  and  factory  inspector,  but 
served  only  one  year. 

Rules  governing  drainage  and  plumbing  of  new  buildings  pro- 
mulgated by  Health  Department.  Five  women  tenement  inspectors 
appointed. 

Dr.  Heman  Spalding  entered  Department  as  medical  inspector. 

Comprehensive  tenement  house  investigation  made  by  the  City 
Homes  Association. 

On  July  27,  4.02  inches  of  rainfall  occurred  in  3  hours  and  34 
minutes. 

Chicago  Sanitary  District  established  by  act  of  legislature. 

June  29,  133  square  miles  of  territory  annexed,  with  a  population 
of  223,300.  Total  area  of  city  prior  to  this  annexation,  43.9  miles. 

Hull  House  opened  September  18. 

Health  Department  report  lists  75  employes. 

1890:  Severe  outbreak  of  influenza,  beginning  in  January  and 
lasting  until  April.  Mortality  rates  in  the  three  next  succeeding  years 
very  high,  principally  due  to  deaths  from  respiratory  diseases. 

Dispute  with  State  Live  Stock  Commission  in  regard  to  bringing 
diseased  animals  into  the  city  and  slaughtering  them  here.  Special 
place  established  for  the  slaughter  of  such  animals. 

Scavenger  service,  which  was  still  under  the  contract  system, 
placed  under  care  of  a  general  sanitary  officer.  Study  made  of  garbage 
disposal  in  other  cities. 

Odor  division  created  in  the  Department  of  Health,  C.  C.  Cobb 
in  charge,  and  also  a  sanitary  division,  with  ward  officers.  Walter  V. 
Hoyt,  general  sanitary  officer. 

Cognizance  taken  of  the  extensive  manure  nuisance  from  100,000 
horses  in  the  city,  and  also  of  the  'cutting  of  ice  in  ponds  and  clay 
holes  in  the  city. 

Ordinance  presented  prohibiting  privy  vaults  on  sewered  prem- 
ises. 

Dr.  E.  Garrott  appointed  chief  medical  inspector.  He  had  been 
a  medical  inspector  since  1877. 

Health  Department  report  lists  60  employes,  including  34  ward 
officers. 

Population,  according  to  U.  S.  Census,  1,099,850. 

1891:  Dr.  John  D.  Ware  appointed  commissioner  of  health. 
Period  of  great  municipal  development  and  growth.  Highest  typhoid 
fever  death  rate  in  the  history  of  the  city.  Rate  173.8  per  100,000 
population. 


1500  ANNAIuS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

Disposal  of  garbage  and  household  refuse  became  a  matter  of 
much  public  concern. 

Disparaging  statements  made  by  other  municipalities  in  reference 
to  sanitary  condition  of  the  city  attracted  attention  on  account  of  the 
oncoming  World's  Fair. 

Comprehensive  plumbing  ordinance  passed  by  city  council. 

Lake  level  loivest  in  history  of  the  city. 

U.  S.  Meat  Inspection  Law  Passed,  applying  to  interstate  ship- 
ments. 

Health  Department  report  lists  .102  employes,  including  37  tene- 
ment and  factory  inspectors  in  addition  to  the  sanitary  police  officers. 

Health  Department  especially  active  in  enforcing  the  smoke  abate- 
ment ordinance. 

1892 :  Great  increase  in  population  on  account  of  the  oncom- 
ing World's  Fair.  Typhoid  death  rate. still  high,  124.1  per  100,000. 

As  a  result  of  the  paper  of  Seflgewick  and  Hazen  on  Typhoid 
Prevalence  in  Chicago,  the  State  Board  of  Health  started  an  exhaus- 
tive investigation  of  zymotic  diseases  in  Illinois,  in  which  they  were 
'assisted  by  the  trustees  of  the  Sanitary  District.  A  report  of  this 
investigation  was  presented  at  the  World's  Fair  in  the  following  year. 

Ordinance  passed  adding  diphtheria,  typhoid  fever  and  typhus 
to  the  list  of  reportable  diseases. 

System  of  postal  card  reports  for  contagious  diseases  inaugu- 
rated. 

Contract  system  of  garbage  removal  pronounced  unsatisfactory  by 
the  Health  Department.  For  a  long  time  it  had  been  unsatisfactory 
to  the  public. 

Cholera  scare.  Thirty  thousand  dollars  appropriated  to  clean  up 
the  city. 

Four-mile  water  tunnel  at  I4th  Street,  and  Lake  View  Tunnel, 
one  mile  long,  completed. 

A  division  of  milk  inspection  created  by  ordinance,  independent 
of  the  Health  Department,  and  a  comprehensive  milk  ordinance  passed 
requiring  the  licensing  of  milk  dealers,  the  maintenance  of  sanitary 
conditions,  and  establishing  chemical  standards  of  purity. 

Work  on  the  new  drainage  channel  inaugurated  on  September  3. 
Dr.  F.  W.  Reilly  delivered  one  of  the  addresses  made. 

Track  elevation  ordinance  passed. 

Shore  intakes  at  Chicago  Avenue  and  Lake  View  in  common  use 
for  water  supply  purposes  this  year. 

Health  Department  report  lists  101  employes. 

University  of  Chicago  opened  October  I. 


ANNALS     OF    HEALTH    AM)     SANITATION  1501 

1893:    Dr.  .1.  R.  Reynolds,  commissioner  of  health. 

Andrew  Young  reappointed  chief  tenement  and  factory  inspector. 
Health  Department  report  lists  92  employes. 

World's  I' air  visited  by  30.000,000  people.  Much  overcrowding 
in  city.  Also  much  unemployment  and  labor  unrest. 

Four-mile  crib  opened.  Owing  to  the  unavoidable  delay  in  ex- 
tending the  Hyde  Park  tunnel  it  was  found  necessary  to  purify  all 
the  water  supplied  at  the  World's  Fair  by  Pasteur  filtration. 

The  lodging  houses  were  crowded  and  the  discovery  of  cases  of 
smallpox  led  the  Department  to  inaugurate  a  vigorous  campaign  of 
vaccination.  One  hundred  and  forty  cases  developed,  of  which  23 
died. 

First  public  batli  house  established,  the  Carter  H.  Harrison,  at  759 
Mather  Street. 

Ordinance  passed  establishing  the  Municipal  Laboratory. 

Division  of  milk  inspection  brought  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Health  Department  and  established  in  connection  with  the  labo- 
ratory. 

Use  of  shore  intakes  at  Chicago  Avenue  and  Lake  View  per- 
manently discontinued. 

Scavenger  service  transferred  to  Department  of  Public  Works 
on  March  13. 

Summer  characterized  by  a  severe  drought,  the  longest  on  record. 

Isham  Randolph  appointed  chief  engineer  of  the  Sanitary  lv 
trict. 

Highest  annual  rate  of  deaths  from  violence  on  record.  Rate 
15.17  per  10,000.  The  death  rate  from  tuberculosis  was  also  unusually 
high  this  year. 

1894:  Epidemic  of  smallpox.  2,332  cases,  1,033  deaths,  1,084,500 
vaccinations  performed.  Vaccina'tion  creed  of  the  Department  first 
issued. 

Additional  hospital  accommodations  provided  by  the  establish- 
ment of  an  emergency  smallpox  hospital,  for  which  the  Visiting  Nurse 
Association  furnished  the  nursing  service. 

A  year  of  much  unemployment,  labor  disputes  and  strikes. 

Monthly  statement  of  mortality  published  by  the  Department  first 
contained  notes  by  the  commissioner  on  health  conditions. 

Plans  made  for  the  construction  of  a  large  isolation  hospital  for 
which  the  foundations  were  laid  and  excavations  made. 

The  laboratory  was  equipped  to  make  analysis  of,  milk  instead  of 
having  thfefimalysis'  made  at  private  laboratories,  las  had  been  the 
custom  heretofore.  Adolph  Gehrman,  director.  In  September  exam- 
inations of  diphtheria  cultures  were  begun. 


1502  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

Extensive  examinations  made  of  the  city  water  supply. 

Chronological  summary  of  causes  of  death  from  1851  to  date  first 
introduced  in  annual  reports  of  the  Department. 

Hyde  Park  tunnel  extended  to  two  miles. 

February  12,  day  pf  greatest  recorded  wind  movement.  Average 
70  miles  for  10  consecutive  hours.  Ten  inches  of  snowfall. 

Dr.  P.W.  Reilly  became  associated  with  the  Health  Department 
and  was  appointed  assistant  commissioner  in  January,  1895. 

Circular  of  Information  first  issued  on  the  hot  weather  care  of 
babies  in  June  of  this  year. 

Report  made  on  study  of  lake  currents  by  M.  W.  Harrington  of 
the  U.  S.  Weather  Bureau. 

Health  Department  report  lists  106  employes. 

1895 :    Mr.  W.  R.  Kerr,  appointed  commissioner  of  health. 

Sanitary  administrative  work  largely  thrown  on  Dr.  Reilly. 

First  diphtheria  antitoxin  issued,  October  5.  Corps  of  antitoxin 
administrators  appointed.  Effects  obtained  tabulated  and  "the  great 
change  wrought  by  antitoxin  in  the  mortality  of  the  disease  demon- 
strated." 

Circulars  of  information  first  issued  on  the  prevention  of  con- 
sumption and  antitoxin  treatment  of  diphtheria. 

Plans  of  isolation  hospital  modified  in  order  to  reduce  cost;  size 
reduced  to  about  125  bed  capacity. 

Ordinance  passed  licensing  and  regulating  undertakers.  Dr.  M.  O. 
Hec!  :,ointed  registrar  of  vital  statistics. 

v  -jnn  of  death  certificate  drafted  by  Chicago  Health  De- 
partment md  adopted  by  State  Board  of  Health  requiring  physicians 
to  fill  out.  only  the  cause  of  death. 

•  loyes  of  Health  Department  placed  under  Civil  Service. 

Daily  analysis  of  the  water  supply  inaugurated. 

iMght  of  the  ten  medical  inspectors  of  the  Department  assigned 
to  school  inspection. 

Funeral  inspection  begun  by  the  Health  Department. 

Chicago  Lying-in   Hospital  and   Dispensary   established. 

Appropriation  for  Health  Department,  $219,200.60. 

1896:  Commission  appointed  to  prepare  plans  for  intercepting 
the  city  sewers  and  diverting  them  to  the  river. 

Physicians  allowed  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  quarantining 
rases  of  contagious  diseases  under  their  care. 

First  circular  issued  giving  advice  to  the  family  in  a  case  of  con- 
tagious disease. 

New  Isolation  Hospital  at  34th  Street  and  Lawndale  Avenue  com- 
pleted. 


\\NVI.S    OP    HEALTH    AXD    SANITATION  1503 

Hospital  inspection  and  control  inaugurated. 

Widal  tests  for  typhoid  fever  started  by  the  laboratory  in  Novem- 
ber. 

By  authority  of  the  State  Board  of  Health  the  Chicago  Health 
Department  promulgates  rules  regulating  the  practice  of  midwifery 
in  the  city. 

The  Health  Department  this  year  had  its  own  attorney  and  1782 
cases  we're  prosecuted. 

Ordinance  passed  licensing  ice  dealers  and  regulating  the  pro- 
duction and  sale  of  ice. 

United  States  Department  of  Labor  makes  an  exhaustive  investi- 
gation of  the  social  and  economic  conditions  of  Italians  living  in  the 
slum  districts  of  Chicago. 

May  25,  only  tornado  recorded  as  occurring  in  city.  Passed 
through  Norwood  park. 

First  incubator  installed  in  the  Department  of  Health  laboratory. 

Chicago  Federation  of  Labor  organized. 

Salary  of  health  commissioner  raised  to  ^.5,000. 

1897 :  Dr.  A.  R.  Reynolds  became  commissioner  of  health  the 
second  time  and  held  office  for  eight  years. 

State  law  passed  providing  for  the  licensing  of  plumbers  and  the 
inspection  of  plumbing. 

City,  authorized  by  act  of  the  legislature  to  contract  for  the  col- 
lection and  disposal  of  garbage  for  periods  not  exceeding  five  years. 

The  second  free  public  bath  opened,  the  Martin  B.  Madden,  at 
39th  Street  and  Wentworth  Avenue. 

Ordinance  passed  prohibiting  the  sale  of  cigarettes  containing 
injurious  substances  and  the  Health  Department  laboratory  made 
numerous  examinations  of  cigarettes  on  the  market. 

Act  of  Congress  passed  June  3,  providing  for  the  deepening  of  the 
Chicago  River. 

Four  antitoxin  and  incubator  stations  for  diphtheria  cultures 
established  in  different  sections  of  the  city. 

John  Ericson  appointed  city  engineer. 

Chicago.  Association  of  Day  Nurseries  organized. 

1898:  Main  sewers  in  I2th  and  22nd  Streets  changed. in  grade 
so  as  to  discharge  into  the  river  instead  of  into  the  lake. 

Disinfection  with  formaldehyde  begun,  first  by  the  use  of  gen- 
erators and  later  in  the  year  by  the  sheet  method. 

Health  Department  inaugurates  a  system  of  reporting  births  by 
postal  cards.  This  was  continued  for  three  years. 

Chief  Medical  Inspector  E.  Garrott  died  April  19. 


1504  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

E.  R.  Pritchard  appointed  secretary,  Department  of  Health, 
March  14. 

Soldiers  afflicted  with  typhoid  fever  brought  to  Chicago  hospitals 
from  mobilization  camps  during  the  Spanish-American  War. 

Epidemic  of  cerebrospinal  meningitis. 

1899 :  Clinical  instruction  of  medical  students  at  smallpox  hos- 
pital instituted. 

Study  of  the  milk  supply  by  the  University  of  Illinois  Agricultural 
Experiment  Station,  showed  that  the  milk  was  quite  inferior  in  cer- 
tain districts. 

Between  January  I  and  April  30  there  were  recorded  549  deaths 
from  influenza. 

Efforts  made  to  stop  the  dumping;  of  river  clredgings  in  the  lake. 

Dr.  Heman  Spalding  appointed  chief  medical  inspector)  on  May  i. 

Volunteer  corps  of  73  physicians  detailed  in  July  in  congested  dis- 
tricts to  give  instructions  to  mothers  in  regard  to  keeping  the  babies  well. 

Dr.  I.  D.  Rawlings  entered  the  Department  of  Health  as  a  medical 
inspector.  Appointed  aa;;stant  chief  medical  inspector  five  years  later. 

Act  of  legislature  enacted,  providing  for  the  appointment  of  a 
state  food  commission. 

. 
1900:     New  draininie  'cliannel  opened  January   17.     Total   cost 

$45,220,588. 

State  of  Missouri  on  the  same  day  started  an  injunction  proceed- 
ing against  the  state  of  Illinois,  seeking  to  restrain  the  Sanitary  District 
from  discharging  its  drainage  into  the  Mississippi  River. 

Comprehensive  examinations  of  the  water  in  the  Canal,  the  Des 
Plaines,  Illinois  and  Missouri  Rivers,  and  the  Mississippi  River  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  and  as  far  down  as  Jefferson  Barracks,  made 
by  a  commission  under  the  direction  of  the  commissioner  of  health. 
These  examinations  were  started  in  May,  1899,  and  continued  to  July" 
i,  1900,  and  showed  that  nearly  all  of  the  pollution  in  the  Illinois 
River  from  Chicago  sewage  had  disappeared  before  reaching  Peoria. 
I'eoria  contamination  was  cleared  up  at  Grafton.  The  water  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Illinois  averaged  better  than  that  of  the  Mississippi  above 
their  junction  and  these  waters  averaged  better  than  that  of  the 
Missouri  at  their  junction  below.  The  investigation  also  showed  that 
the  St.  Louis  water  supply  was  largely  taken  from  the  Missouri  con- 
tribution to  the  Mississippi  River. 

Great  fluctuations  occurring  normally  in  the  lake  levels  called 
attention  to  by  the  Health  Department  and  especially  the  difference 
of  8  feet  between  the  low  level  of  1891  and  the  high  level  of  1886. 

Department  of  Child  Study  organized  by  the  Board  of  Education. 


ANNALS    OF    HEALTH    AND    SANITATION  1505 

Formaldehyde  detected  in  293  samples  of  milk.  Campaign  started 
to  discontinue  its  use  as  a  milk  preservative. 

The  Health  Department  published  a  study  of  the  increasing 
duration  of  life  in  Chicago  and  demonstrated  that  the  average  dura- 
tion had  more  than  doubled  in  a  single  generation.  The  average  for 
1898  was  29.4  yrs.  as  compared  with  13.9  yrs.  in  1869. 

Chicago  Health  Department  awarded  gold  medal  at  Paris  Exposi- 
tion for  display  showing  methods  of  work  and  results  accomplished. 

Resolution  introduced  into  city  council  by  Alderman  William 
Hale  Thompson  establishing  the  first  public  playground. 

Associated  Jewish  Charities  founded. 

Fifty  inspectors  assigned  to  school  inspection,  by  the  Board  of 
Education,  January  8.  Forty  were  discharged  ^  the.  end  of  five 
months.  The  remaining  ten  continued  to  visit  schools  on  emergency 
calls. 

Northwestern  Land  and  Lake  Tunnel  completed  to  supply  the 
Central  Park  and  Springfield  Avenue  stations. 

Total  appropriation  for  Health  Department,  $234,130.00. 

Population,  according  to  U.  S.  Census,  1,698,575. 

Very  hot  in  August.  • 

1901:  Boundaries  of  15  sanitary  districts  of  city  established  by 
the  Health  Department  for  statistical  purposes. 

Ordinance  passed  prohibiting  spitting  in  public  places. 

Municipal  Lodging  House  established  through  efforts  of  the  Chi- 
cago Homes  Association  and  placed  under  the  Police  Department. 

State  law  passed  providing  for  the  registration  of  births  'and 
deaths,  and  •  embodying  the  compulsory  permit  feature. 

Ordinance  passed  requiring  the  separation  of  garbage  and  rub- 
bish. 

Health  Department  awarded  medal  at  Pan-American  Exposition 
in  Buffalo. 

"State  of  City's  Health"  published  every  week  in  newspapers 
and  publication  of  monthly  statement  of  mortality  discontinued. 

Very  hot  in  July.  Six  periods  of  four  or  more  days  of  continuous 
sunshine.  The  hottest  temperature  on  record  occurred  on  July  21. 
Summer  marked  by  prolonged  periods  of  drought. 

Free  bathing  beaches  opened.  Expense  borne  by  subscriptions 
made  by  philanthropic  citizens. 

An  exhaustive  study  of  the  Social  Problem  at  the  Chicago  Stock 
Yards  published  by  Charles  J.  Bushnell. 

A  sketch  of  the  sanitary  history  of  the  city  entitled  "The  Fight 
for  Life  in  Chicago,"  by  H.  W.  Thtirston,  published  by  the  Board  of 
Education. 


l">0fi  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

1902:  Severe  outbreak  of  typhoid  in  West  Side  river  wards, 
due  to  pollution  of  water  supply  "wells" 'at  pumping  station.  Typhoid 
fever  death  rate  for  the  year  44.5  per  100,000. 

Comprehensive   tenement   house   ordinance   passed. 

Much  activity  in  milk  inspection.  Dr.  A.  Gehrman  resigned  posi- 
tion as  director  of  the  laboratory,  June  21.  Inspection  of  country 
dairies  inaugurated.  The  Chicago  Civic  Federation  paid  salaries  and 
traveling  expenses  of  two  dairy  inspectors. 

Fourth  of  July  "Don'ts"  first  promulgated  by  Health  Department. 

Health  Department  starts  publication  of  a  weekly  bulletin  entitled 
"State  of  Chicago's  Health." 

Births  registered  by  Chicago  Health  Department  under  the  new 
registration  law  and  postal  card  method  of  reporting  discontinued. 

Results  of  Chemical  and  Bacteriologic  Examinations  of  Illinois, 
Missouri  and  Mississippi  River  Water,  by  J.  T.  Long,  published  by 
Illinois  State  Board  of  Health. 

Geologic  Survey  of  the  Chicago  Area  published  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Interior,  based  on  surveys  made  in  x  1889-90  and  97-99, 
jointly  with  the  Chicago  Sanitary  Commission. 

Comprehensive  tenement  ordinance  passed. 

Memorial  Institute  for  Infectious  Diseases  established. 

1903  :  Smoke  abatement  transferred  to  the  newly  created  Depart- 
ment of  Boiler  Inspection. 

Compulsory  burial  permit  requirement  eliminated  from  state  regis- 
tration law. 

Investigation  of  the  Health  Department,  especially  the  sanitary 
bureau,  by  the  Civil  Service  Commission.  The  report  did  not  justify 
any  radial  changes. 

City  Milk  Committee  organized  for  the  distribution  of  modified 
and  pasteurized  milk. 

Tuberculosis  Committee  of  the  Visiting  Nurse  Association  organ- 
ized. 

Very  high  death  rate  from  pneumonia.     Rate  25.01  for  10,000. 

Dr.  J.  F.  Biehn  appointed  director  of  laboratory  December  n. 

Chicago  Medical  Society  reorganized,  and  branch  societies  estab- 
lished. 

Memorial  Institute  for  Infectious  Diseases  established. 

City  Club  organized. 

1904:  Country  dairy  inspection  inaugurated.  Work  largely  edu- 
cational and  directed  against  malt  feeding  which  was  found  on  19 
per  cent,  of  farms  visited. 

Ordinance  passed  requiring  milk  cans  to  be  sealed  in  transit. 

Municipal  Lodging  House  opened  at  present  location. 


ANNALS    OF    HEALTH    AND    SANITATION  1507 

Chicago  L,aw  and  Order  League  formed. 

Report  of  Civic  Federation  on  the  analysis  of  Chicago  market 
milk;  26.8  per  cent,  below  grade  in  butter  fat,  30.9  in  solids  not  fat, 
15  per  cent,  of  restaurant  samples  contain  formalin.  Average  bac- 
terial content  on  May  18,  942,000.  Analysis  made  by  P.  G.  Heine- 
mann. 

Dr.  T.  B.  Sachs  published  a  report  on  the  prevalence  of  tuber- 
culosis in  the  West  Side  Jewish  district. 

Chicago  Health  Department  given  highest  award  by  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  Exposition  at  St.  Louis  for  the  best  and  most  comprehensive 
display  of  public  health  methods. 

Greatest  snowfall  occurred  in  this  year. 

Lowest  annual  death  rate  from  all  causes  in  the  histpry  of  the 
city.  Rate  13.85  per  1,000.  Also  the  lowest  death  rate  from  diphtheria 
on  record,  2.15  per  10,000. 

Juvenile  Protective  League  incorporated.  In  1909  its  name  was 
changed  to  Juvenile  Protective  Association. 

1905:    Dr.  C.  J.  Whalen  appointed  commissioner  of  health. 

Laboratory  moved  out  of  City  Hall  to  215  W.  Madison  Street. 

Meat  inspection  reinstituted  at  Stock  Yards  and  special  attention 
given  to  inspection  of  foods  in  cold  storage. 

Sanitary  inspection  of  milk  depots  made  and  5838  samples  of 
milk  examined  bacteriologically. 

Efforts  made  to  lower  cost  of  antitoxin  and  free  distribution  of 
same  resumed. 

Five  hundred  forty-six  cases  of  smallpox  occurred  during'  the 
year. 

Thirty-ninth  Street  intercepting  sewer  opened  in  December,  divert- 
ing all  sewage  from  the  lake  betwen  31$  and  75th  Streets.  Marked 
fall  in  typhoid  fever  death  rate. 

The  second  lowest  annual  death  rate  from  all  causes  in  the  history 
of  the  city.  Rate  13.98  per  1,000. 

Average  age  at  death  in  the  city  31  years,  10  months.  Increase 
of  100  per  cent,  over  1874. 

Ordinance  passed  creating  the  bureau  of  food  inspection,  but 
bureau  remained  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  laboratory  until  1909. 

Municipal  Court  Act  adopted  by  referendum  vote. 

Tuberculosis  exhibit  held  in  the  Public  Library. 

A  study  of  tuberculosis  in  Chicago  published  by  the  City  Homes 
Association. 

An  act  of  the  legislature  passed  providing  for  the  Pasteur  treat- 
ment of  poor  persons  to  prevent  rabies. 


1508  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

Ordinance  passed  closing  all  offices  in  the  City  Hall,  except  those 
of  the  Health  Department,  every  Saturday  afternoon. 
Health  Department  appropriation,  $288,733.00. 
Health  Department  had  160  employes. 

1906:     Much  activity  in  food  inspection  work. 

Large  condemnations  of  canned  goods  and  cold  storage  poultry. 

The  Jungle,  by  Upton  Sinclair,  published  in  February. 

McNeil-Reynolds  report  made  on  sanitary  conditions  at  Union 
Stock  Yards. 

Federal  meat  inspection  law  passed  regulating  sanitary  condition 
of  plants  and  requiring  the  inspection  of  all  meats  and  meat  products 
prepared  in  establishments  shipping  products  in  interstate  commerce. 

Ordinance  passed  licensing  and  controlling  restaurants. 

Committee  from  Chicago  Medical  Society  pronounced  Health 
Department  rules  for  meat  inspection  too  severe  and  stringent. 

Dairy  inspectors  made  reports  on  sanitary  conditions  of  farms  and 
insanitary  dairies  were  excluded. 

First  bacteriologic  examination  of  milk  from  dairy  farms. 

Two  local  outbreaks  of  typhoid  fever,  one  traced  to  well  water 
and  the  other  to  milk. 

Water  supplied  by  Rogers  Park  Pumping  Station  polluted,  supply 
discontinued,  and  territory  supplied  from  Lake  View  Station. 

High  price  of  antitoxin  broken  by  an  arrangement  made  with  the 
Memorial  Institute  of  Infectious  Diseases. 

Decision  rendered  by  United  States  Supreme  Court  in  February 
dismissing  the  injunction  proceedings  of  the  state  of  Missouri,  seeking 
to  stop  the  discharge  of  Chicago  sewage  into  the  Mississippi  River. 

Sanitary  District  made  application  to  the  War  Department  to 
reverse  the  flow  of  the  Calumet  River. 

Chicago  Tuberculosis  Institute  organized,  succeeding  the  Tubercu- 
losis Committee  of  the  Visiting  Nurse  Association. 

First  contract  made  for  the  disposal  of  the  city's  garbage  at  the 
rate  of  $47,500.00  per  year,  with  the  Chicago  Reduction  Company,  a 
corporation  formed  by  the  successful  bidders.  This  contract  was 
later  declared  illegal  by  a  Master  in  Chancery. 

Bulletin  of  the  Department  of  Health  first  circulated  as  a  weekly 
publication. 

Chicago  Society  of  Social  Hygiene  organized. 

Health  Department  appropriation,  $457,645.00. 

1907:  Dr.  W.  A.  Evans  appointed  commissioner  of  Jicalth  on 
April  16. 

Mayor's  term  of  office  increased  to  four  years. 


\\V\LS     OF     HKALTH     AM)     SANITATION  1509 

Practice  of  allowing  physicians  to  assume  responsibility  for  quar- 
antine discontinued.  • 

There  had  been  a  severe  epidemic  of  scarlet  fever  during  the 
winter,  due  to  infection  of  the  milk  supply  in  the  country.  In  January 
3,058  cases  occurred. 

During  the  epidemic  250  school  medical  inspectors  were  employed, 
of  which  number  100  remained  in  the  service. 

Ambulance  service  transferred  to  Health  Department. 

Comprehensive  smoke  abatement  ordinance  passed  and  Depart- 
ment of  Smoke  Inspection  created. 

Reporting  of  tuberculosis  enforced.  .  School  nursing  service  in- 
augurated. 

Chicago  awarded  silver  prize  for.  tuberculosis  control  ordinances 
by  International  Congress  on  Tuberculosis. 

Report  of  Milk  Supply  of  Chicago  and  Twenty-six  Other  Cities 
by  John  M.  Trueman,  published  by  the  Illinois  Agricultural  Experi- 
ment Station.  Report  showed  19  per  cent,  of  325  samples  below  grade 
in  butter  fat ;  63  per  cent,  of  209  below  in  total  solids ;  88  per  cent, 
contained  a  visible  dirt  sediment. 

Milk  Commission  appointed  by  the  commissioner  of  health  to  study 
the  problem  of  the  production  and  marketing  of  milk. 

School  of  Sanitary  Instruction  organized. 

Health  Department  Bulletin,  issued  as  the  Bulletin  of  the  Chicago 
School  of  Sanitary  Instruction,  and  entered  as  second  class  matter. 

C.  B.  Ball  appointed  chief  sanitary  inspector,  May  14.  Ordinance 
passed  controlling  bakeries.  With  this  the  campaign  to  abolish  under- 
ground bakeries  was  inaugurated. 

City  meat  inspectors  withdrawn  from  slaughter-houses  under 
government  inspection. 

Department's  right  to  condemn  foods  affirmed  by  United  States 
Supreme  Court  decision. 

Dr.  G.  Koehler  appointed  chief  of  the  bureau  of  food  inspection, 
August  10. 

Old  smallpox  hospital  converted  into  a  municipal  hospital  for 
diphtheria  cases. 

Methods  of  night  soil  disposal  changed,  so  as  to  allow  deposing 
of  same  in  sewers. 

Seven  tuberculosis  dispensaries  established  by  the  Chicago  Tuber- 
culosis Institute. 

..Rudolph  Her  ing  makes  report  on  the  disposal  of  sewage  from  the 
Calumet  region,  recommending  the  construction  of  the  Sag  channel. 

Second  lowest  diphtheria  death  rate  on  record — 2.7  per  10,000. 


1510  ANNALS     OF     HEAtTH     AN1>     SANITATION 

Ordinance  providing  for  the  heating  and  ventilation  of  street 
cars  passed  on  December  2. 

Ordinance*  passed  licensing  bathing  beaches. 

Salary  of  health  commissioner  raised  from  $6,000  to  $8,000. 

Children's  Pavillion  of  Cook  County  Hospital  opened. 

State  Department  of  Factory  Inspection  established. 

1908:  Department  of  Health  practically  doubles  its  activities. 
Records  and  inspection  methods  greatly  improved. 

Two  local  outbreaks  of  typhoid  fever  traced  to  milk  supply. 

Health   Department  inspectors  placed  in  uniform. 

Ordinance  passed  -July  13,  requiring  all  milk  to  be  pasteurised 
unless  obtained  from  tuberculin  tested  cows.  Ten  thousand  cows 
tuberculin  tested.  Score  card  system  of  dairy  inspection  inaugurated. 

Ordinance  passed  controlling  hospitals  and  dispensaries. 

Municipal  Lodging  House  transferred  to  Department  of  Health. 

Police  stations  made  distributing  stations  for  culture  media  and 
antitoxin,  designated  to  receive  diphtheria  cultures  for  transmission  to 
Department  laboratory. 

Publicity  work  of  Department  greatly  extended,  especially  along 
the  lines  of  infant  mortality  and  .respiratory  disease  prevention.  Thus 
much  attention  was  given  to  pure  milk  and  fresh  air.  Weekly  foreign 
language  and  neighborhood  press  service  established.  Lecture  bureau 
created  and  lectures  given  in  foreign  languages. 

School  nursing  service  inaugurated,  under  supervision  of  Visiting 
Nurse  Association. 

Lawrence  Avenue  conduit  completed.  Sewage  from  north  shore 
intercepted. 

Solution  of  calcium  hypochlorite  used  for  purification  of  the 
effluent  by  C.  A.  Jennings  at  the  experimental  sewage  treating  station 
on  Bubbly  Creek. 

Health  Department  discontinues  the  registration  of  births,  same 
taken  over  entirely  by  County  Clerk. 

Plan  of  Chicago  prepared  under  direction  of  Commercial  Club 
by  Donald  H.  Burnham  and  Edward  H.  Bennet. 

New  smallpox  hospital  opened.    Capacity  40  beds. 

Qnc  hundred  physicians  sent  to  congested  districts  during  July 
ard  rvugust  to  instruct  mothers  in  the  care  of  babies. 
/       State  law  in  effect  providing  for  the  registration  of  nurses. 
,       Fresh-air  schools  established,  the  first  open-air  school  being  located 
at  the  Harvard  School,  and  the  first  open  window  school  rooms  at  the 
Graham  School.    Elizabeth  McCormick  Open-Air  School  established  at 
%e  Mary  Crane  Nursery.  » 

Lake  Michigan  Water  Commission  appointed. 


ANNALS    OF    HEALTH    AND    SANITATION  1511 

Tuberculosis  and  pneumonia  made  reportable  diseases.  - 

May.  Explosion  and  fire  at  the  Chicago  Reduction  Works.  Ten 
killed. 

Report  on  Electrification  of  Railway  Terminals  made  by  technical 
committee  under  auspices  of  Local  Transportation  Committee  of  City 
Council. 

Old  City  Hall  torn  down.  Health  Department  moved  to  215 
Madison  Street. 

August  31.  New  five-year  contract  made  with  the  Chicago 
Reduction  Company  for  disposing  of  the  city's  garbage  at  the  rate  of 
$45,500.00  per  annum. 

Comprehensive  rules  promulgated  by  the  commissioner  of  health 
regulating  the  handling  and  sale  of  milk,  approved  by  the  city  council. 

Ordinance  passed  prohibiting  the  sale  of  bulk  milk  in  stores. 

Ordinance-passed  requiring  all  meat  sold  in  the  city  to  be  inspected, 
passed  and  marked  "Approved"  either  by  the  city,  state  or  federal, 
inspectors. 

Illinois  Supreme  Court  holds  that  compulsory  vaccination  cannot 
be  enforced  except  in  the  presence  of  an  epidemic  .of  smallpox. 

Elizabeth  McCormick  Memorial  Fund  established. 

1909:  Rules  promulgated  regulating  the  pasteurization  of  milk 
and  the  tuberculin  testing  of  cows.  The  systematic  bacteriologic  exam- 
ination of  milk  samples  and  testing  of  pasteurizers  inaugurated. 

Dr.  L.  L.  Lumsden  of  the  U.  S.  Public  Health  Service  studied 
the  typhoid  situation  in  Chicago  at  request  of  health  commissioner. 

By  a  referendum  vote  it  was  decided  to  establish  a  municipal 
tuberculosis  sanitarium  under  the  provisions  of  the  Glackin  Law. 

Sane  Fourth  program  launched  by  public  meetings  particularly 
one  of  the  Hamilton  Club,  and  the  Health,  Police  and  Fire  Departments. 

First  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Municipal  Tuberculosis  Sanitar- 
ium appointed,  consisting  of  Harlow  N.  Higinbotham,  President;  Dr. 
Theodore  B.  Sachs,  Secretary,  and  Dr.  William  A.  Evans. 

Dr.  F.  W.  Reilly,  assistant  health  commissioner,  died  December 
1 6,  1909.  "Dr.  Reilly  was  the  first  to  conceive  the  idea  of  publishing 
a  weekly  health  bulletin.  He  led  in  all  of  the  fights  for  better  living 
conditions  with  his  powerful  health  sermons,  and  especially  in  the  fight 
against  the  sewage-contaminated  water  supply." 

Dr.  C.  St.  Clair  Drake  became  editor  of  the  Bulletin  of  the  Health 
Department. 

Baby  welfare  campaign  carried  on  by  house  to  house  visiting  by 
Health  Department  nurses  in  co-operation  with  social  agencies.  Dr. 
Caroline  Hedger  in  cHtrge. 

International  Classification  of   causes  of  death  adopted  by  the 


1512  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

Health  Department,  January  i.  At  the  same  time  death  certificates 
were  changed  to  conform  with  the  United  States  standard. 

State  Board  of  Health  assumed  the  distribution  of  diphtheria  anti- 
toxin. Twenty-eight  distributing  stations  established  in  Chicago. 

Dr.  F.  O.  Tonney  appointed  director  of  laboratory  on  October  14. 

Investigation  of  milk  supply  made  by  Geo.  M.  Whitaker  of  the 
U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  at  request  of  commissioner  of  health 
and  dairy  inspectors  instructed  in  scoring  methods. 

Durand  Hospital  of  the  Memorial  Institute  of  Infectious  Diseases 
established.  , 

Chicago  Fresh  Air  Hospital  established. 

United  Charities  organized  by  the  consolidation  of  Relief  and  Aid 
Society  and  the  Bureau  of  Charities. 

State  law  enacted  prohibiting  the  employment  of  women  in  certain 
industries  and  institutions  longer  than  ten  hours  a  day. 

1910:  Much  work  done  on  testing  the  efficiency  of  pasteuriza- 
tion. 

Emergency  Ambulance  Service  transferred  back  to  the  Police 
Department. 

School  dental  service  inaugurated  by  the  Chicago  Dental  Society. 

Compulsory  ventilation  ordinance  passed,  applying  to  public  build- 
ings, conveyances,  factories  and  workshops. 

Dr.  G.  Koehler  appointed  assistant  commissioner  of  health,  Feb- 
ruary 25. 

Federal  law  passed  prohibiting  the  dumping  of  refuse  in  the  lake 
within  eight  miles  of  the  shore. 

Persistent  efforts  made  to  repeal  the  pasteurization  ordinance. 
Commission  of  the  state  legislature  investigated  the  question. 

New  milk  standards  applied  to  ice-cream. 

First  Sane  Fourth,  parades  and  park  picnics  replacing  fireworks. 

Venereal  disease  prevention  advice  first  published  in  the  Bulletin 
and  pamphlets  on  the  subject  distributed  in  the  lodging  house. 

Municipal  Venereal  Disease  clinic  opened  and  maintained  about 
six  months  in  the  Iroquois  Memorial  Hospital,  conducted  by  a  volun- 
teer staff.  Premises  placarded  and  quarantine  established  in  houses 
of  prostitution  where  there  were  cases  of  venereal  disease  reported. 
Prostitutes  convicted  and  held  in  Bridewell  until  cured  of  venereal 
diseases.  Dispensaries  required  to  report  venereal  diseases. 

Vice  Commission  appointed  to  make  a  study  of  vice  conditions 
and  necessary  measures  for  suppression  of  same. 

Moving  pictures  used  for  health  education  ourposes. 

Lead  found  in  carbonated  beverages  ana  campaign  made  to 
eliminate  the  same. 


ANNALS    OF    HEALTH    AM)     SANITATION  1513 

Sediment  test  for  dirt  first  applied  to  milk  samples. 

Study  of  the  housing  problem  in  Chicago  by  Sophonisba  P. 
Breckenridge  and  Edith  Abbott. 

North  Shore  Drainage  Channel  opened. 

City  departments,  including  the  Health  Department,  investigated 
by  the  Commission  on  City  Expenditures  (Merriam  Commission). 
No  report  or  unfavorable  comment  made  on  the  Health  Department. 

Bookkeeping  and  accounting  of  the  Health  Department  transferred 
to  the  Comptroller's  office. 

Municipal  Tuberculosis  Sanitarium  took  over  the  seven  dis- 
pensaries of  the  Chicago  Tuberculosis  Institute. 

School  Nursing  Service  transferred  to  Health  Department. 

Iroquois  Memorial  Emergency  Hospital  opened. 

Infant  Welfare  Society'  organized  as  a  successor  to  the  Chicago 
Milk  Commission.  First  station  started  in  December. 

The  Chicago  Commission  on  Ventilation  organized. 

Revised  and  comprehensive  Building  Code  passed,  containing  ad- 
vanced housing  and  ventilation  standards. 

Woman's  City  Club  organized. 

No  deaths  from  smallpox  since  1905. 

Sarah  Morris  Hospital  for  Children  established. 

Warmest  spring  on  record. 

Population  according  to  U.  S.  Census,  2,185,283. 

1911:  Dr.  George  B.  Young  appointed  commissioner  of  health 
on  June  6. 

Health  Department  moved  into  new  City  Hall,  which  was  com^ 
pleted  this  year. 

May  II,  Child  Welfare  Exhibit  held  in  Coliseum. 

Health  Department  began  promulgating  department  and  bureau 
orders  in  serial  form.  In  1914  and  1915  these  were  codified  and  issued 
as  handbooks  of  department  and  bureau  regulations. 

Ordinance  passed  prohibiting  common  drinking  cups. 

Ordinance  passed  prohibiting  common  roller  towels. 

Illinois  Supreme  Court  decided  that  city  food  regulations  may  be 
more  stringent  than  those  of  the  state. 

State  law  passed  prohibiting  cities  from  requiring  tuberculin  test- 
ing of  cattle. 

Report  made  by  George  M.  Wisner,  chief  engineer  of  the  Sanitary 
District,  on  methods  of  sewage  disposal  other  than  by  dilution. 

Segregated  vice  district  abolished. 

Northwest    Sanitary    Drainage    Association    incorporated. 

Southwest  Land  and  Lake  Tunnel  completed,  supplying  the  Rose- 
land  Pumping  Station. 


1514 

Water  survey  made  by  T.  C.  Phillips  this  year  and  continued  in 
1912  showed  that  50  per  cent,  of  the  amount  of  water  supplied  per 
capita  is  lost  as  a  result  of  leaky  plumbing  and  underground  wastage. 
Per  capita  pumpage,  190  gallons. 

Municipal  Employes'  Pension  Fund  established. 
~~  Milk  outbreak  -of  typhoid  fever  occurred  in  the  Englewood  dis- 
trict, resulting  in  71  cases. 

Wannest  year  on  record;  accumulated  departure,  1,262  degrees 
Fahrenheit.  ' 

September  18.  First  contract  let  by  the  Sanitary  District  for  the 
cons'  i>f  the  Calumet-Sag  Channel. 

Health  Department  laboratory  began  making  Wassermann  tests 

yphilis.  — 

Health  Department  starts  giving  tKe  Pasteur  treatment  at  the 
Iroquois  Memorial  Hospital  for  the  prevention  of  rabies. 

Health  /Department  advises  the  public  to  be  vaccinated  against 
typhoid  fever,  especially  those  persons  going  to  the  country  for  a 
vacation.  Anti-typhoid  vaccinations  given  free  at  the  Iroquois  Mem- 
orial Hospital. 


inr'tli"  ordinance  passed  prohibiting  the  use  of  fireworks 
and  explosives  except  at  public  displays,  for  which  a  permit  is  required. 

1912  :  Health  Department  resumed  the  comprehensive  tabulation 
of  mortality  statistics.  This  had  been  discontinued  since  1910. 

A  detailed  system  of  collecting  and  tabulating  statistics  installed 
and  prescribed  for  all  bureaus  of  the  Health  Department.  Compara- 
tive statistical  reports  required  to  be  made  to  the  commissioner  by 
each  bureau  at  the  end  of  every  month. 

Central  system  for  filing  correspondence  and  reports  adopted  by 
the  Health  Department. 

March  15.  Chlorination  of,  water  supply  begun.  Calcium  hypo- 
chlorite  solution  first  applied  at  the  E.  F.  Dunne  Crib  in  an  experimental 
way.  On  July  16  this  treatment  was  extended  to  the  Hyde  Park  Crib 
and  used  when  the  wind  was  from  off  shore.  The  treatments  were 
discontinued  during  the  winter  months  on  account  of  the  solution 
freezing  in  the  temporary  installations. 

Ventilation  division  created  in  bureau  of-sanitation  for-  enforce- 
m«rt-  of  ventilation  ordinance. 

Illinois  Supreme  Court  upheld  city  ordinance  prohibiting  cellar 
bakeries. 

June.  Commission,  appointed  by  order  of  the  city  council  to 
investigate  the  disposal  of  garbage  in  other  cities,  recommended  15 
months'  extension  of  the  city's  contract  with  the  Chicago  Reduction 
Company,  expiring  on  August  31,  1913.  Citizens'  Association  Report 


ANNALS    OF    HEALTH    AND    SANITATION  1515 

published,  advising  that  bids  be  received  without  delay  for  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  city's  garbage  for  a  five-year  period.  / 

August  14.  New  milk  ordinance  passed,  requiring  all  milk  to  be 
pasteurized  by  prescribed  methods  unless  produced  on  inspected  farms, 
and  requiring  the  refrigeration  of  milk  in  transit.  The  ordinance  also 
establishes  standards  of  purity  for  each  grade,  and  provides  that  all 
milk  sold  to  the  consumer  must  be  contained  in  tightly  closed  re- 
ceptacles, properly  labeled  and  dated. 

The  division  of  fish  inspection  abolished  and  the  Health  Depart- 
ment charged  with  the  work. 

Little  Mothers'  Clubs  established  in  the  public  schools. 

Ordinance  passed  requiring  ventilation  of  street  cars  and  pre- 
scribing standards. 

Cold  storage  ordinance  passed. 

Ordinance  passed  prohibiting  dumping  in  lake  within  four  miles  of 
any  water  intake. 

Board  of  County  Commissioners  makes  appropriation  of  $5,000 
for  payment  of  birth  registration  fees.  Similar  appropriations  were 
made  during  the  three  following  years. 

Bureau  of  hospitals,  baths  and  lodging  house  created  in  Depart- 
ment of  Health. 

First  bond  issue  for  the  construction  of  a  municipal  contagious 
disease  hospital  approved  by  a  referendum  vote. 

Extensive  milk-borne  outbreak  of  streptococcus  sore  throat,  due 
to  milk  infection,  started  in  December  and  lasted  until  the  following 
February. 

January  the  coldest  month  on  record. 

1913:  Scarlet  fever  very  prevalent;  10,600  cases,  906  deaths. 
Also  diphtheria,  of  which  there  were  8,593  cases  and  952  deaths. 

Handbook  of  Regulations  issued  for  field  employes  of  the  bureau 
of  medical  inspection. 

Ordinance  passed  regulating  manure  storage  and  prohibiting  man- 
ure receptacles  in  alleys  after  January  i,  1916. 

All  typhoid  fever  cases  reported  to  the  Department  investigated 
by  supervising  health  officers  or  medical  inspectors. 

Classified  system  of  quarantine  adopted  for  diphtheria,  scarlet 
fever  and  whooping  cough. 

Four  infant  welfare  stations  established  by  Health  Department. 

Ordinance  enforced  prohibiting  the  discharge  of  refuse  or  sewage 
from  boats  within  four  miles  of  any  water  intake. 

Health  Department  charged  with  the  disposal  of  the  city's  gar- 
bage. Temporary  waste  disposal  plant  started  at  Grace  Street  and 


1»16  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

the  north  branch  of  the  Chicago  River  and  maintained  until  August, 
1914,  pending  the  purchase  and  rehabilitation  of  the  Reduction  Works. 

Waste  Commission  appointed  by  the  Mayor,  on  order  of  the  city 
council,  to  make  a  thorough  and  comprehensive  study  of  the  waste 
disposal  problem  and  recommend  a  plan  of  handling  the  same.  Engin- 
eers J.  T.  Featherston  and  J.  S.  Osborn  employed  by  the  Commission 
to  make  a  technical  survey  and  recommendations. 

Extensive  tests  made  of  street  car  ventilation. 

Three  food-borne  outbreaks  of  typhoid  fever,  two  due  to  milk 
infection  and  the  other  resulting  from  a  "carrier"  working  in  a  down- 
town restaurant. 

August  15.  Calcium  hypochlorite  treatment  first  applied  to  the 
water  supplied  by  the  Lake  View  Crib. 

Year  of  much  unemployment.  Municipal  Lodging  House 
crowded  early  in  December.  Lodgers  required  to  work  on  streets. 
Two  additional  free  lodging  houses  opened. 

Municipal  Employment  Agency  established. 

Workmen's  Compensation  Act  in  effect  July  I. 

The  Commissioner  of  Health  read  a  paper  before  the  American 
Public  Health  Association  reporting  on  the  favorable  results  obtained 
by  the  experimental  employment  of  the  hypochlorite  treatment  of  a 
portion  o'f  Chicago's  water  supply. 

Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association  started  publishing 
Annual  Reports  on  the  Prevalence  of  Typhoid  in  Large  Cities  of  the 
United  States.  Chicago's  rate  of  7.5  per  100,000  for  previous  year 
(1912)  is  given  as  the  second  lowest  typhoid  rate  of  any  city  in  the 
United  States  with  a  population  of  500,000  or  over. 

Health  Department  appropriation,  exclusive  of  garbage  disposal 
and  public  improvements,  $626,261.00.  Number  of  employes,  557. 

1914:  April  13.  Dr.  C.  St.  Clair  Drake  of  the  Chicago  Depart- 
ment of  Health  appointed  secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Health. 

Mr.  E.  R.  Pritchard  succeeded  Dr.  Drake  as  editor  of  the  Bulle- 
tin of  the  Chicago  Department  of  Health. 

Ordinance  passed  prohibiting  dumping  in  the  lake  within  ten 
miles  from  corporate  limits  (13  miles  from  shore). 

Ordinance  passed  licensing  and  controlling  meat  food  products 
establishments. 

Ordinace  passed  prohibiting  dumping  on  private  property  without 
a  permit  from  the  commissioner  of  health. 

February.  Garbage  reduction  plant  of  the  Chicago  Reduction 
Company,  located  at  39th  and  Iron  Streets,  purchased  by  the  city  at  a 
price  of  $279,689.00.  Operation  of  plant  started  June  15,  1914.  In  the 
meantime  the  plant  was  partly  rehabilitated  and  reconstructed.  For 


AN>AL,S     OF    HEALTH    AM)     SANITATION  1517 

nearly  two  years,  pending  the  completion  of  the  degreasing  plant,  the 
dried  garbage  was  sold  to  a  contractor. 

Illinois  Supreme  Court  upheld  city' ordinance  controlling  pasteur- 
ization. 

Department  of  Public  Welfare  established. 

Home  relief  work  by  the  Municipal  Tuberculosis  Sanitarium 
dispensaries  inaugurated. 

April  i.  Construction  of  new  Municipal  Contagious  Disease 
Hospital  started.  \Yard  buildings  were  planned  on  the  cubicle  system 
and  so  arranged  that  visitors  can  enter  and  see  the  patients  from  the 
visitors'  aisle  which  is  separated  from  the  wards  by  a  glass  partition. 
Hospital  located  at  California  Boulevard  and  3ist  Street. 

Prosecutions  and  suit  records  placed  in  charge  of  suit  clerk  in 
commissioner's  office  of  Health  Department. 

Division  of  child  hygiene  established  in  the  Department  of  Health. 
Fifty  additional  health  officers  provided. 

Section  for  the  control  of  typhoid  established  under  the  direction 
of  Dr.  H.  N.  Bundesen,  who  was  also  charged  with  the  sanitary  super- 
vision of  the  city  water  supply  and  the  control  of  chlorination. 

Health  Department  investigated  by  efficiency  staff  of  Civil  Service 
Commission  at  request  of  Commissioner  of  Health.  Report  issued 
April  19,  1915. 

June  9.  Report  made  by  the  Waste  Commission,  and  the  recom- 
mendations made  adopted  in  principle  by  the  city  council. 

First  year  in  which  the  cases  of  pneumonia  reported  exceeded  the 
number  of  deaths  from  the  disease. 

Local  outbreak  of  typhoid  fever  in  the  Chicago  Avenue  water 
supply  district. 

North  Shore  Sanitary  District  organized.  ' 

Health  Department  takes  over  dental  service,  in  the  public  schools. 
Field  platers   first   sent   to   pasteurizing  establishments   to   make 
bacteriologic  examinations  of  the  raw  milk  and  the  pasteurized  pro- 
ducts. 

Health  Department  started  distribution  of  silver  nitrate  solution 
for  the  prevention  of  blindness. 

\Yidespread  outbreak  of  foot  and  month  disease,  starting  October 
15,  at  Niles,  Michigan.  The  disease  recurred  in  various  localities 
during  the  following  two  years. 

November.  Foot  and  mouth  disease  at  the  Union  Stock  Yards. 
Cattle  at  dairy  show,  then  in  progress,  infected  and  quarantined. 
Stock  yards  closed,  renovated  and  disinfected. 

Sixty-eight  cases  of  typhoid  fever  traced  to  milk  infection. 


1518  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

Construction  begun  on  a  garbage  incinerating  plant  at  95th  Street 
and  Stony  Island  Avenue. 

Rufus  F.  Dawes  Hotel,  to  provide  lodgings  for  unemployed  men 
established. 

City  Morals  Commission  created. 

•  Salary  of  health  commissioner  raised  from  $8,000  to  $10,000. 

1915  :  Dr.  John  Dill  Robertson  appointed  commissioner  of  health, 
April  27. 

March  p.    Municipal  Tub cr-culosis  Sanitarium  opened. 

Consulting' staff  appointed  at  the  Municipal  Tuberculosis  Sanitar- 
ium. 

State  Board  oi  Health  quarantine  regulations  superseded  those  of 
Chicago  Department  '•;"  Health.  The  modified  form  of  quarantine, 
enforced  by  the  Chicago  Health  Department,  abolished  thereby. 

Ordimnce  passed  requiring  foods  to  be  covered. 

Following  the  Eastland  Disaster  on  July  24  the  Health  Department 
took  immediate  steps  to  have  persons  immerged  in  the  river  immunized 
against  typhoid.  Health  Department  nurses  assisted  in  relief  work. 

Board  hearings,  preliminary  to  starting  suit  for  violations  of  sani- 
tary ordinances,  instituted  by  the  Health  Department. 

Treatment  of  water  supply  with  liquid  chlorine  started,  first  at  the 
Chicago  Avenue  Pumping  Station  on  September  16,  and  next  at  the 
22nd  Street  Pumping  Station  on  December  15. 

Sanitary  inspectors  of  Health  Department  detailed  to  police  pre- 
cincts to  work  in  conjunction  with  patrolmen  to  maintain  sanitary 
conditions  in  their  respective  districts. 

Much  progress  made  in  the  ventilation  of  theaters.  Nearly  all  of 
them  equipped  with  proper  ventilation  installations. 

Dairy  inspectors  began  to  use  automobiles  for  country  inspection 
work. 

Much  acetyl  salicylic  acid  sold  in  drug  stores  found  to  be 
adulterated. 

October  4.  Mayor  William  Hale  Thompson  enforced  state  law 
requiring  saloons  to  be  closed  on  Sunday. 

Two  food-borne  outbreaks  of  typhoid  in  February  to  April,  one 
from  milk  and  the  other  from  a  cook  who  was  a  ''carrier." 

Municipal  wood-yard  established  in  connection  with  the  Municipal 
Lodging  House. 

Garbage  incinerator  completed  at  the  House  of  Correction.  Capac- 
ity, 50  tons  per  day. 

Report  on  Smoke  Abatement  and  Electrification  of  Railway 
Terminals  issued  by  a  committee  of  the  Chicago  Association  of  Com- 
merce. 


A»'ALS    OF    HEALTH    AXD    SANITATION  1519 

Model  Bill  passed  by  the  legislature  providing  for  the  registration 
of  births  and  deaths. 

Chicago  Institute  of  Medicine  organized.  Dr.  W.  E.  Quine,  first 
president. 

Typhoid  death  rate,  5.4  per  100,000.  This  was  the  second  lowest 
death  rate  from  the  disease  recorded  in  any  city  of  the  United  States 
this  year  having  a  population  of  500,000  or  over. 

Second  lowest  scarlet  fever  death  rate  on  record,  3.1  per  loo.ooo. 

Lowest  death  rate  on  record  of  children  under  one  year  of  age; 
rate,  2.53  per  10,000  of  population. 

No  deaths  from  smallpox  during  the  year. 

Lowest  whooping  cough  death  rate  on  record,  2.4  per  100,000. 

1916:  January  I.  New  Birth  and  Death  State  Registration  law 
went  into  effect.  Health  Department  resumed  the  registration  of 
births.  Since  1908  they  had  been  registered  with  the  county  clerk. 

The  Department  of  Public  Works  again  given  jurisdiction  over 
waste  disposal. 

Fifty  Municipal  Tuberculosis  Sanitarium  doctors  and  50  nurses 
placed  in  public  schools. 

House  to  house  survey  for  tuberculosis  started  by  the  Municipal 
Tuberculosis  Sanitarium  in  the  district  between  22nd  Street  and 
North  Avenue,  extending  from  the  lake  to  Ashland  Avenue,  comprising 
eight  square  miles  and  having  a  population  of  371,259.  Total  persons 
examined  165,700,  of  which  8.64  per  cent,  were  found  to  be  tuberculous. 

Capacity  of  Municipal  Tuberculosis  Sanitarium  increased  to 
1000  beds. 

Bonds  heretofore  required  to  be  given  by  the  applicants  for  various 
licenses  eliminated. 

January  26.  A  local  outbreak  of  typhoid  fever  in  68th  Street 
water  supply  district  following  discharge  of  sewage  into  the  pumping 
wells  as  a  result  of  an  overflowing  of  the  South  Side  intercepting 
sewer  during  a  heavy  rainfall.  A  total  of  105  cases  developed,  of  which 
eight  died. 

Illinois  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Blindness  organized. 

Outbreak  of  infantile  paralysis  started  on  July  14,  six  weeks  after 
the  outbreak  of  the  disease  in  New  York  City.  Outbreak  lasted  to 
November  10,  resulting  in  254  ca^es  and  34  deaths.  System  of  train 
inspection  inaugurated  immediately  after  the  New  York  outbreak. 
Policy  adopted  by  Health  Department  of  hospitalizing  all  cases  of 
infantile  paralysis.  All  contact?  watched. 

July  22.  All  milk  and  cream,  c.vcrrt  certified,  required  to  be  pas- 
teurized. This  order  has  not  been  rescinded  and  since  the  order  has 
been  in  effect  there  have  been  no  milk-borne  outbreaks  of  typhoid  fever. 


1529  ANNALS     OF     HEALTH     AND     SANITATION 

Research  Commission  on  Infantile  Paralysis  appointed  in  August. 

Gardening  movement  inaugurated  resulting  in  the  planting  of  a 
total  of  200,000  backyard  and  vacant  lot  gardens  the  next  year. 

Doctors  Mathers,  Herzog  and  Nuzum  isolated  a  pleomorphic 
coccus  from  cases  of  infantile  paralysis  at  Cook  County  Hospital,  pro- 
ducing a  flaccid  paralysis  in, monkey,  rabbit  and  young  dogs  when 
inoculated. 

Doctor's  certificate  required  from  school  children  for  readmission 
to  schools  after  the  summer  vacation. 

Visiting  Nurse  Association  assumed  supervision  over  the  after- 
treatment  of  cases  of  infantile  paralysis. 

Clean  Living  Magazine  published  by  the  Health  Department, 
continued  until  March,  1917.  This  was  made  possible  by  a  donation 
from  a  leading  business  man.  Dr.  A.  M.  Corwin,  editor. 

Diet  Squad  experiment,  conducted  by  the  Health  Department, 
demonstrated  the  possibility  of  furnishing  a  daily  bill  of  fare  at  31 
cents  per  capita  per  day. 

Liquid  chlorine  treatment  extended  to  the  entire  water  supply 
with  the  completion  of  the  installation  at  the  Springfield  Avenue  Sta- 
tion on  October  6. 

Intensive  study  made  by  the  Health  Department  of  the  physical 
condition  of  school  children.  191,225  physical  examinations  made 
from  1914  to  1916.  Results  of  138,057  examinations  tabulated  and 
cross-tabulated. 

Ordinance  passed  requiring  workmen's  toilets  to  be  installed  in 
buildings  under  construction. 

Investigation  made  of  the  sanitary  condition  of  289  laundries,  and 
an  ordinance  regulating  laundries  drafted  and  recommended  for 
passage. 

Health  Departmet  requests  restaurant  owners  to  have  all  employes 
examined  for  communicable  diseases. 

-    Outbreak  of  typhoid  fever  in  a  high  school,  probably  from  salad 
served  in  a  restaurant. 

Two  public  comfort  stations  opened  in  Chicago  Public  Library 
Building. 

Mean  temperature  for  July  and  August  highest  on  record  since 
1871.  Last  five  days  of  July  temperature  continuously  above  82. 
Greatest  record  of  sunshine  in  July,  95  per  cent. ;  24  days  with  100  per 
cent. 

No  deaths  from  smallpox  during  the  year. 

Health  Department  appropriation,  $959,883.00  Total  number  of 
employes  802. 


ANNALS     OF    HEALTH    AND     SANITATION  1521 

1917:  January  8.  New  Municipal  Contagious  Disease  Hospital 
opened.  Administration  and  one  ward  building  completed. 

State  Department  of  Health  organized  July  i.  Dr.  C.  St.  Clair 
Drake,  Director  of  Public  Health. 

State  Department  of  Registration  and  Education  organized,  and 
given  charge  of  the  registration  of  physicians,  nurses,  midwives,  etc. 

Full-time  dispensary,  plan  instituted  in  Municipal  Tuberculosis 
Sanitarium  dispensaries.  Quarantine  system  inaugurated  for  tuber- 
culosis patients.  No  open  cases  of  tuberculosis  permitted  in  contact 
with  children  in  the  home.  Non-cooperating  cases  placarded  and  hos- 
pitalized. 

Association  for  the  Prevention  of  Infantile  Paralysis  organized. 

High  death  rate  from  pneumonia  occurred  in  the  spring  of  this 
year. 

Bond  issue  of  $150,000  approved  by  referendum  vote  providing 
for  the  construction  of  comfort  stations. 

June  29.  Ordinance  passed  requiring  the  reporting  and  treatment 
of  venereal  diseases. 

Another  outbreak  of  infantile  paralysis  occurred  beginning  July 
21  and  lasting  to  December  I.  Resulted  Li  a-./  cases  auJ  i//  deaths. 

Ordinance  passed  controlling  day  fiurseries_3ind  requiring  permits. 

March  17.    Old  Contagious  Disease  Hospital  closed. 

Free  lunches  in  saloons  prohibited  by  ordinance. 

Ordinance  passed  licensing  and  controlling  "homes"  and  defining 
such  institutions  as  separate  from  hospitals. 

Ordinance  passed  prohibiting'  accumulations  of  dust  and  rubbish 
on  roofs. 

Ordinance  passed  requiring  residences  to  be  screened  against  flies  ; 
also  an  ordinance  requiring  stables  and  barns  to  be  screened. 

November.  Laboratory  started  making  tests  for  types  of  pneumo- 
cocci,  and  began  the  distribution  of  anti-pneumococcus  serum. 

December.     Pneumonia  cases  required  to  be  placarded. 

Filling  in  of  Bubbly  Creek  west  of  Ashland  Avenue  started. 

Tuberculosis  survey  made  by  the  Municipal  Tuberculosis  Sanitar- 
ium extended  to  include  the  territory  south  of  55th  Street,  from  Went- 
worth  Avenue  to  the  lake. 

An  intensive  housing  survey  made  by  the  Municipal  Tuberculosis 
Sanitarium  in  a  portion  of  the  territory  covered  by  the  tuberculosis  sur- 
vey previously  made. 

The  Municipal  Tuberculosis  Sanitarium  began  the  publication  of  a. 
monthly  bulletin. 

State  law  passed  providing  for  the  licensing  and  control  of 
breakins:  establishments. 


1522  AXXALS     OF     HEALTH     AM>     SAMTATIOX 

Five-year  contract  made  for  the  removal  and  disposal  of  dead 
animals  at  the  rate  of  $5,025  per  annum.  During  the  previous  20  years 
the  city  had  only  received  $25.00  per  annum  for  this  concession. 

Monthly  meetings  of  Chicago  Public  Health  Association,  under 
auspices  of  Health  Department  and  Board  of  Education,  started  in  the 
public  schools. 

Ordinance  passed  making  it  unlawful  to  allow  the  growth  of  weeds 
on  vacant  lots. 

Immunization  against  diphtheria  with  von  Behring's  toxin-anti- 
toxin mixture  inaugurated  byVHealth  Department  in  public  schools  and 
institutions. 

,  Building  operations  decreased  very  greatly  on  account  of  the 
European  war.  This  was  even  more  marked  in  1918  when  only  1,853 
permits  were  issued,  as  compared  with  12,437  m  1916. 

All  street  cars  equipped  with  proper  ventilating  devices. 

On  account  of  the  high  price  of  milk  the  Municipal  Tuberculosis 
Sanitarium  opened  a  milk  station  in  connection  with  the  dispensary  at 
Sedgwick  and  Schiller  Streets. 

Health  Department  recommended  consolidation  of  milk  delivery 
and  presented  an  ordinance  to  the  city  council  providing  for  such  con- 
solidation. 

Federal  Food  Administrator  for  the  State  of  Illinois  appointed  a 
Milk  Commission  to  'fix  the  price  of  milk  in  the  Chicago  dairy  district. 
The  Health  Commissioner  represented  the  people  at  the  hearing  and 
made  a  fight  for  a  reduction  in  the  price  and  advocated  the  establish- 
ment of  a  price  of  two  cents  less,  on  the  cash  and  carry  basis,  which 
was  granted  by  the  Commission.  As  a  result  milk  was  sold  on  this 
basis  at  10  cents  a  quart  in  560  stores  and  milk  depots. 

Municipal  Lodging  House  transferred  to  the  Department  of  Public 
Welfare. 

Mary  Dawes  Hotel  established  to  provide  lodgings  for  women  at 
a  minimum  cost. 

Health  Department  building  bonds,  in  an  amount  of  $750,000.  ap- 
proved by  a  referendum  vote,  making  a  total  of  $2,100,000  in  four 
issues  since  April,  1912. 

Typhoid  fever  death  rate,,  1.7  per  100,000  of  population.  This 
established  the  record  of  Chicago's  having  the  lowest  typhoid  rate  of 
any  city  in  the  United  States  with  a  population  of  100,000  or  over. 

Second  lowest  tuberculosis  death  rate  on  record ;  149  per  100,000. 

Diphtheria  very  prevalent,  especially  in  October  and  November ; 
10,290  cases;  1,216  deaths  during  the  year. 

High  scarlet  fever  morbidity,— 13,444  cases. 


A\V\I,S     OK     III    VI. Til     AM»     SAMT ATIOX'  1523 

1918:  Field  forces  of  Health  Department  reduced  approximately 
15.5  per  cent,  on  account  of  the  retrenchment  in  expenditures  made 
necessary  by  the  reduction  of  the  municipal  revenue  and  increased 
cost  of  all  commodities  during  the  war. 

One  hundred  thirty-one  Health  Department  employes  enrolled  in 
the  military  service  of  the  United  States  during  the  war. 

Unusually  heavy  snowfall  during  January,  42.5  inches  during  the 
month. 

Special  efforts  made  to  vaccinate  in  order  to  prevent  an  outbreak 
of  smallpox.  266  cases  during  the  year;  292  in  1917. 

Field  work  of  Municipal  Tuberculosis  Sanitarium  and  Health 
Department  co-ordinated  with  the  appointment  of  a  director  of  field 
quarantine  to  supervise  the  tuberculosis  control  work  of  both  forces. 

Municipal  Venereal  Disease  Clinic  started  at  the  Iroquois  Mem- 
orial Hospital. 

Prostitutes  examined  for  venereal  diseases  and  Laivndale  Hospital 
opened  June  I,  for  their  detention.  7,235  cases  of  venereal  disease 
reported. 

Health  Department  started  to  disjnfect  after  deaths  from  pneu- 
monia and  after  removal  from  the  premises  of  persons  afflicted  with 
the  disease. 

-"•^-Widening  of   I2th  Street  completed,  and  widening  of  Michigan 
Boulevard  begun. 

Three  municipal  bath  houses  opened,  making  a  total  of  20  free 
baths  maintained  by  the  city. 

First  municipal  laundry  established. 

Vocational  training  schools  established  at  the  Municipal  Tuber- 
culosis Sanitarium. 

Wilson  Avenue  Crib,  Northwest  Land  Tunnel  and  Mayfair  Pump- 
ing Station  completed.  Lake  View  intake  discontinued  and  pumping 
station  supplied  from  Wilson  Avenue  Crib. 

September  16.     Influenza  made -a  reportable  disease. 

September  21.  Pandemic  of  influenza  readied  Chicago;  attained 
its  maximum  on  October  17,  ou  which-  day  381  deaths  from-pneu- 
<Mtnia  and  influi  nza  occurred.  Following  this  it  declined  until  the 
leath  rate  from  all  causes  practically  fell  to  normal  again  during  the 
week  ending  November  23.  ^The  total  number  of.  deaths  from  influenza 
and  pneumonia  during  the  .eight  weeks  of  the  outbreak  \vas  8,510. 
The  total  excess  death  rate  during  the  25  weeks  following  September 
8  was  3.8  per'  1,000,  which  is  the  second  lowest  increase  in  mortality 
recorded  for  any  city  in  the  United  States  with  a  population  ot  500,000.- 

illinois  Influenza  Commission  appointed  under  auspices  of  the 
Council  of  Xational  Defense. 


1524 


AYNAl.S     OF     HEALTH     AND     SAMTATION 


October  15.  Theaters,  skating  rinks,  night  schools  and  lodge  halls 
closed. 

October  13.  Order  issued  prohibiting  smoking  in  street  cars. 
This  order  has  not  been  rescinded. 

October  12.     Public  funerals  prohibited. 

October  22.  Began  issuing  influenza  vaccine;  313,028  doses  is- 
sued to  January  I,  1919. 

October  30.     Ban  on  closing  lifted. 

Health  Department  made  a  scientific  exhibit  at  meeting  of  the 
\merican  Public  Health  Association  in  Chicago,  and  also  presented 
a  report  orV  the  recent  outbreak  of  influenza. 

Dr.  G.  Koehler  presented  a  paper  before  the  Food  and  Drugs 
section  of  the  Association,  advocating  the  economic  control  of  food 
supplies,  and  instruction  in  dietetics,  as  necessary  public  health 
measures. 

Four  hundred  ninety-two  cases  of  infantile  paralysis,  occurring 
in  1916  and  1917,  were  revisited  by  the  Health  Department  and  the 
results  of  the  after-treatment  found  to  be  very  satisfactory. 

Lowest  typhoid  fever  death  rate  in  the  city  on  record,  1.4  per 
100,000.  This  rate  was  lower  than  that  of  any  city  in  the  United 
States,  with  a  population  of  100,000  or  over. 

Lowest  tuberculosis  death  rate  on  record;  rate   147  per   ioo.ooo 

As  a  result  "of  the  influenza  epidemic  the  pneumonia  death  rate 
in  the  city  during  the  year  was  26.96  per  10,000. 

Lowest  scarlet  fever  morbidity  and.  mortality  rales  recorded  for 
I  he  city,  death  rate  being  1.8  per  100,000. 

Lowest  death  rate  from  measles  on  record;  rate  2.4  per  100,000. 

Associated  Catholic  Charities  established. 

Health  Department  appropriation,  $1,167,818.85.  Total  number 
of  employes,  786. 


